Photo: Brastins · CC BY-SA 3.0Fox Chapel’s library runs 35 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Cooper-Siegel Community Library serves 29,438 people in and around Fox Chapel. Last year it lent 364K books, movies and e-books and logged 113K visits.
The short version on Fox Chapel’s library
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.7 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. It’s 30% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Cooper-Siegel Community Library ran 1,039 programs last year, about 20 a week. That’s 35 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
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 61%. What your card is worth ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 52% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 88% 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; Cooper-Siegel Community Library serves 29,438 people in and around Fox Chapel, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Fox Chapel’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Fox Chapel is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns, #37 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Fox Chapel is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Fox Chapel’s 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 →
36 community nonprofits are registered in Fox Chapel
6.9 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. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.8%
8.8% of Fox Chapel’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 Fox Chapel’s residents live; 2022.
About 11 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Cooper-Siegel Community Library serves 29,438 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 85 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Cooper-Siegel Community Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
364K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
108,678 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Cooper-Siegel Community Library, 403 Fox Chapel Rd, 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 Cooper-Siegel Community Library branch.
New in Fox Chapel? 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 $4.52 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fox Chapel cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M 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 13,765 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fox Chapel | Cooper-Siegel Community Library fine-free | — | 49 | A |
| O'Hara Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Indiana Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Harmar Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Aspinwall | 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. Cooper-Siegel Community Library serves 29,438 people in and around Fox Chapel, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Fox Chapel.
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 Fox Chapel
Does Fox Chapel have a public library?
Yes. Cooper-Siegel Community Library, 403 Fox Chapel Rd, serves 29,438 people in and around Fox Chapel (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cooper-Siegel Community 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 Fox Chapel’s library?
It logged 3.9 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 Fox Chapel’s civic life grade?
A Fox Chapel is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns on civic life, #37 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 Fox Chapel.
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.