Photo: Tim Engleman · CC BY-SA 2.0Ellwood City’s library runs 32 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Ellwood City Area Public Library serves Ellwood City’s 16,502 residents. Last year it lent 33K books, movies and e-books and logged 23K visits.
What Ellwood City’s library is like
Ellwood City Area Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Ellwood City Area Public Library records 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 1.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $17 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Nearly everyone in Ellwood City has a card
16,026 cards for 16,502 people, or 97%. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
29% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 53%. What your card is worth ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Ellwood City Area Public Library holds 72,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
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 Ellwood City’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Ellwood City is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns, #248 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Ellwood City is graded on two of the three inputs. Both 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 →
30 community nonprofits are registered in Ellwood City
4.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.1%
8.1% of Ellwood City’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 Ellwood City’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Ellwood City Area Public Library serves 16,502 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
33K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Ellwood City’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 72K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
5,691 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 kids’ programs 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.
Find it
Ellwood City Area Public Library, 415 Lawrence Ave.., Ellwood City.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Ellwood City? 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 $2.23 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ellwood City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $274K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $609K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $274K 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 16,026 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ellwood City | Ellwood City Area Public Library | 2.0 | 46 | B |
| Wayne Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| North Sewickley Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Frisco | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
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 Ellwood City
Does Ellwood City have a public library?
Yes. Ellwood City Area Public Library, 415 Lawrence Ave.., serves Ellwood City’s 16,502 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ellwood City Area 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 Ellwood City’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 2.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Ellwood City’s civic life grade?
B Ellwood City is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns on civic life, #248 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 Ellwood City.
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.