Gudgeonville Covered Bridge · Photo: Niagara · CC BY-SA 3.0Girard Township has no public library of its own; the nearest is Rice Avenue Community Public Library in Girard, 1.6 miles away
Girard Township doesn’t have a public library of its own. The closest is Rice Avenue Community Public Library in Girard, 1.6 miles away. Many small-town libraries give cards to neighbors, sometimes for a yearly fee, so call ahead.
BCivic lifeAhead of 59% of U.S. towns · #244 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Nonprofits and volunteering.Libraries for Girard Township, in brief
Girard Township borrows from the libraries next door
Girard Township has no public library of its own, but three libraries are within 10 miles, the closest being Rice Avenue Community Public Library in Girard (1.6 miles). Many small-town libraries give cards to people from neighboring towns, sometimes for a yearly fee, so call ahead. Nearest libraries ↓
Girard Township isn’t the only town nearby without one
Lake City, Platea and Springfield Township don’t have a public library of their own either. Among the towns next door, Girard (Rice Avenue Community Public Library) and Fairview Township (Lincoln Community Center) do. Libraries next door ↓
The closest isn’t the one open longest
Rice Avenue Community Public Library is nearest, open about 38 hours a week. Lincoln Community Center, 7.8 miles away, is open about 51 hours a week, so it may be easier to fit in. Nearest libraries ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Distances are straight-line from the town center.
What’s behind Girard Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Girard Township is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns, #244 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Girard Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Girard Township
3.8 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.3%
8.3% of Girard Township’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 Girard Township’s residents live; 2022.
The closest is 1.6 miles away
Closest first, measured from the center of Girard Township. Each one’s hours, and whether it charges late fines.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Girard | Rice Avenue Community Public Library | — | 38 | B+ |
| Fairview Township | Lincoln Community Center | — | 51 | B− |
| Lake City | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Platea | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Springfield Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Elk Creek Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Conneaut Township | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
| Avonia | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Franklin Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Girard Township
Does Girard Township have a public library?
No. The closest is Rice Avenue Community Public Library in Girard, 1.6 miles from the town center. Many libraries give cards to people from neighboring towns, sometimes for a yearly fee, so call ahead.
What is Girard Township’s civic life grade?
B Girard Township is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns on civic life, #244 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 Girard Township.
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.