Photo: Dasandman008 · CC BY-SA 3.0Girard’s library lends 5.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Rice Avenue Community Public Library serves 5,928 people in and around Girard. Last year it lent 35K books, movies and e-books and logged 23K visits.
The short version on Girard’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
62% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 28%. What your card is worth ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 17% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
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; Rice Avenue Community Public Library serves 5,928 people in and around Girard, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Girard’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Girard is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns, #146 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Girard is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Girard’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 →
13 community nonprofits are registered in Girard
4.5 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.5%
8.5% of Girard’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’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Rice Avenue Community Public Library serves 5,928 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Rice Avenue Community Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
35K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
4,651 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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.
Find it
Rice Avenue Community Public Library, 705 Rice Avenue, Girard.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Rice Avenue Community Public Library branch.
New in Girard? 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 $5.48 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Girard cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $101K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $556K 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 1,006 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Girard | Rice Avenue Community Public Library | — | 38 | B+ |
| Girard Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Lake City | 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. Rice Avenue Community Public Library serves 5,928 people in and around Girard, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Girard.
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
Does Girard have a public library?
Yes. Rice Avenue Community Public Library, 705 Rice Avenue, serves 5,928 people in and around Girard (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rice Avenue Community 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 Girard’s library?
It logged 3.9 visits and lent 5.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Girard’s civic life grade?
B+ Girard is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns on civic life, #146 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.
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.