Photo: NChanq at English Wikipedia · CC BY 3.0Forest Hills’ library is a branch of C C Mellor Memorial Library, which lends more per resident than 86% of systems its size
Forest Hills’s library is the Forest Hills Branch, a branch of C C Mellor Memorial Library, which serves 20,811 people and lent 255K items last year.
Forest Hills’s library, in brief
Busy on a lean budget
The C C Mellor Memorial Library system spends $28 per resident, less than 73% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). It’s still borrowed from more than 73% of them. What your card is worth ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.6 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. It’s 30% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
27% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 57%. What your card is worth ↓
Programs draw a crowd
23,000 people came to the system’s 925 programs last year: 1.1 per resident, against a typical 0.4, more than at 90% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
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; Forest Hills’s library is a branch of C C Mellor Memorial Library, so they cover the whole system (20,811 people), not just the Forest Hills branch.
What’s behind Forest Hills’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Forest Hills is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns, #195 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Forest Hills is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Forest Hills’ count of community nonprofits 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 →
27 community nonprofits are registered in Forest Hills
4.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.2%
8.2% of Forest Hills’ 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 Forest Hills’ residents live; 2022.
About 12 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 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
C C Mellor Memorial Library serves 20,811 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 63 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole C C Mellor Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
255K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
75,294 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Forest Hills Branch, 4400 Greensburg Pike, Pittsburgh.
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 C C Mellor Memorial Library branch.
New in Forest Hills? 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 $7.24 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Forest Hills cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $587K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $587K 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 5,326 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forest Hills | Forest Hills Branch fine-free | — | 25 | B |
| Braddock Hills | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Wilkins Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Churchill | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| North Braddock | None of its own | — | — | B− |
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. Forest Hills Branch is one branch of C C Mellor Memorial Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 20,811 people it serves.
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 Forest Hills
Does Forest Hills have a public library?
Yes: Forest Hills Branch, 4400 Greensburg Pike, is a branch of C C Mellor Memorial Library, which serves 20,811 people. The branch is open about 25 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is C C Mellor Memorial 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 Forest Hills’ library?
It logged 3.6 visits and lent 12.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Forest Hills’ civic life grade?
B Forest Hills is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns on civic life, #195 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 Forest Hills.
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.