Photo: Dough4872 · Public domainFleetwood’s library runs 15 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Fleetwood Area Public Library serves 16,821 people in and around Fleetwood. Last year it lent 79K books, movies and e-books and logged 35K visits.
Fleetwood’s library, in brief
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
34% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 41%. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
77% of the 254 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.8 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Fleetwood Area Public Library spends $10 per resident, less than 96% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). 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; Fleetwood Area Public Library serves 16,821 people in and around Fleetwood, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Fleetwood’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Fleetwood is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns, #426 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Fleetwood is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Fleetwood’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($70K–$117K) 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 →
13 community nonprofits are registered in Fleetwood
3.3 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.9%
7.9% of Fleetwood’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 Fleetwood’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Fleetwood Area Public Library serves 16,821 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 35 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Fleetwood Area Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
79K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
13,288 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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.
Find it
Fleetwood Area Public Library, 110 W Arch St., Fleetwood.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Fleetwood Area Public Library branch.
New in Fleetwood? 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 $7.25 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fleetwood cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $167K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $167K budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
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 3,974 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fleetwood | Fleetwood Area Public Library fine-free | — | 43 | C+ |
| Richmond Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Ruscombmanor Township | 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. Fleetwood Area Public Library serves 16,821 people in and around Fleetwood, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Fleetwood.
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 Fleetwood
Does Fleetwood have a public library?
Yes. Fleetwood Area Public Library, 110 W Arch St., serves 16,821 people in and around Fleetwood (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fleetwood Area Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Fleetwood’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 4.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Fleetwood’s civic life grade?
C+ Fleetwood is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns on civic life, #426 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 Fleetwood.
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.