Photo: Publichall · CC BY-SA 3.0Ebensburg’s library lends 6.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Ebensburg Free Public Library serves Ebensburg’s 3,404 residents. Last year it lent 26K books, movies and e-books and logged 15K visits.
What Ebensburg’s library is like
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
55% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 26%. What your card is worth ↓
Busy on a lean budget
Ebensburg Free Public Library spends $25 per resident, less than 78% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). It’s still borrowed from more than 73% of them. What your card is worth ↓
More library cards than residents
3,581 cards for 3,404 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
What’s behind Ebensburg’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Ebensburg is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns, #57 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
18 community nonprofits are registered in Ebensburg
5.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.8%
9.8% of Ebensburg’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.0% in the typical Pennsylvania town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Ebensburg’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Ebensburg Free Public Library serves 3,404 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
26K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 26K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
3,716 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Ebensburg last year.
Find it
Ebensburg Free Public Library, 225 W Highland Ave, Ebensburg.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Ebensburg? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $4.82 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ebensburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $85K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $410K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $85K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 3,581 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Ebensburg
Does Ebensburg have a public library?
Yes. Ebensburg Free Public Library, 225 W Highland Ave, serves Ebensburg’s 3,404 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ebensburg Free Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Ebensburg’s library?
It logged 4.3 visits and lent 7.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Ebensburg’s civic life grade?
A− Ebensburg is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns on civic life, #57 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Ebensburg.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.