Photo: Dough4872 · CC BY-SA 4.0Ephrata’s library logs 6.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Ephrata Public Library serves 35,189 people in and around Ephrata. Last year it lent 436K books, movies and e-books and logged 221K visits.
The short version on Ephrata’s library
One of the busiest library systems its size
Ephrata Public Library logs 6.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 11 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 92% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 60% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
49% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 19%. What your card is worth ↓
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; Ephrata Public Library serves 35,189 people in and around Ephrata, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Ephrata’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Ephrata is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns, #807 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Ephrata is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Ephrata’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($52K–$87K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
44 community nonprofits are registered in Ephrata
3.2 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 (17 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.6%
5.6% of Ephrata’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 Ephrata’s residents live; 2022.
About 9 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Ephrata Public Library serves 35,189 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 184 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Ephrata Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
436K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
43,969 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Ephrata Public Library, 550 South Reading Rd, Ephrata.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Ephrata Public Library branch.
New in Ephrata? 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 $5.45 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ephrata cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M 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 11,442 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ephrata | Ephrata Public Library | — | 45 | C− |
| Ephrata Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Akron | None of its own | — | — | C− |
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.
- System-wide. Ephrata Public Library serves 35,189 people in and around Ephrata, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Ephrata.
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 Ephrata
Does Ephrata have a public library?
Yes. Ephrata Public Library, 550 South Reading Rd, serves 35,189 people in and around Ephrata (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ephrata 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 Ephrata’s library?
It logged 6.3 visits and lent 12.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Ephrata’s civic life grade?
C− Ephrata is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns on civic life, #807 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 Ephrata.
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.