Photo: Acroterion · CC BY-SA 4.0Frackville’s library logs 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Frackville Free Public Library serves 8,766 people in and around Frackville. Last year it lent 4,315 books, movies and e-books and logged 9,973 visits.
The short version on Frackville’s library
Frackville Free Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Frackville Free Public Library records 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $12 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
46% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 21%. What your card is worth ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Frackville Free Public Library offered 50 programs last year, 5.7 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 12% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
50% of the 50 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 25 were for children. 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; Frackville Free Public Library serves 8,766 people in and around Frackville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Frackville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Frackville is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns, #971 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Frackville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Frackville Free Public Library spends $12 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($43K–$71K) 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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Frackville
1.8 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.8%
5.8% of Frackville’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 Frackville’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Frackville Free Public Library serves 8,766 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Frackville Free Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
4,315 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
48 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
50 programs a year
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
Frackville Free Public Library, 56 North Lehigh Ave, Frackville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Frackville Free Public Library branch.
New in Frackville? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Frackville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $101K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $72K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $101K 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 1,061 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frackville | Frackville Free Public Library | — | 39 | D |
| West Mahanoy Township | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
| Englewood | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Altamont | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Butler 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. Frackville Free Public Library serves 8,766 people in and around Frackville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Frackville.
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 Frackville
Does Frackville have a public library?
Yes. Frackville Free Public Library, 56 North Lehigh Ave, serves 8,766 people in and around Frackville (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Frackville Free 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 Frackville’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 0.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Frackville’s civic life grade?
D Frackville is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns on civic life, #971 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 Frackville.
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.