Photo: Bubba73 · CC BY-SA 3.0Gettysburg’s library runs 24 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Adams County Library System serves 103,852 people in and around Gettysburg. Last year it lent 452K books, movies and e-books and logged 196K visits.
Gettysburg’s library, in brief
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Adams County Library System ran 2,485 programs last year, about 48 a week. That’s 24 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9. Kids & programs ↓
Pennsylvania pays a big share
30% of the budget comes from the state, and 50% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. 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; Adams County Library System serves 103,852 people in and around Gettysburg, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Gettysburg’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Gettysburg is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns, #471 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Gettysburg is graded on two of the three inputs. Gettysburg’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($41K–$68K) 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 →
42 community nonprofits are registered in Gettysburg
5.1 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 (8 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.
5.4%
5.4% of Gettysburg’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 Gettysburg’s residents live; 2022.
About 27 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 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Adams County Library System serves 103,852 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 34 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Adams County Library System system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
452K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
126,128 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Adams County Library System, 140 Baltimore St., Gettysburg.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Adams County Library System branch.
New in Gettysburg? 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 $2.69 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Gettysburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $2.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $7.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.7M 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 33,391 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gettysburg | Adams County Library System | — | 63 | C+ |
| Cumberland Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Straban Township | 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. Adams County Library System serves 103,852 people in and around Gettysburg, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Gettysburg.
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 Gettysburg
Does Gettysburg have a public library?
Yes. Adams County Library System, 140 Baltimore St., serves 103,852 people in and around Gettysburg (the survey’s count) and is open about 63 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Adams County Library System 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 Gettysburg’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 4.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Gettysburg’s civic life grade?
C+ Gettysburg is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns on civic life, #471 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 Gettysburg.
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.