Glenolden Library serves Glenolden’s 7,223 residents
Glenolden Library serves Glenolden’s 7,223 residents.
What’s behind Glenolden’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Glenolden is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #636 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so Glenolden is graded on two of the three inputs. Glenolden’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
The survey’s stand-in for Glenolden’s 2024 visits carries forward a 2023 figure, so it is left out.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($55K–$91K) 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 →
32 community nonprofits are registered in Glenolden
4.4 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 (6 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.
4.8%
4.8% of Glenolden’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 Glenolden’s residents live; 2022.
A year at Glenolden Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Find it
Glenolden Library, 211 S Llanwellyn Ave, Glenolden.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Glenolden? 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 Glenolden resident borrows (the library didn’t report its card count for 2024).
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 resident’s month = the library’s yearly loans and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ the 7,223 people it serves ÷ 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ridley Township | Ridley Township Public Library fine-free | 5.6 | 48 | C− |
| Norwood | Norwood Public Library | 4.7 | 41 | C− |
| Folcroft | Folcroft Public Library | 1.5 | 45 | D |
| Glenolden | Glenolden Library | — | 33 | C |
| Darby Township | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
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.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Glenolden Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate carries forward its 2023 figure, so we leave it out and never rank it.
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 Glenolden
Does Glenolden have a public library?
Yes. Glenolden Library, 211 S Llanwellyn Ave, serves Glenolden’s 7,223 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Glenolden 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 Glenolden’s library?
It lent 0.0 items per resident in 2024 (print). Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Glenolden’s civic life grade?
C Glenolden is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on civic life, #636 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 Glenolden.
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.