Mitchell-Shook House · Photo: Smallbones · CC0Greencastle’s library is a branch of Franklin County Library System - Admin Unit, which lends less per resident than 77% of systems its size
Greencastle’s library is the Lilian S. Besore Memorial Library, a branch of Franklin County Library System - Admin Unit, which serves 135,038 people and lent 318K items last year.
What stands out about Lilian S. Besore Memorial Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Greencastle’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Greencastle is ahead of 33% of U.S. towns, #585 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Greencastle 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.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($58K–$97K) 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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in Greencastle
2.9 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.5%
7.5% of Greencastle’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 Greencastle’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Franklin County Library System - Admin Unit serves 135,038 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Franklin County Library System - Admin Unit system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
318K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
65,101 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 21 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.
Find it
Lilian S. Besore Memorial Library, 305 East Baltimore Street, Greencastle.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Franklin County Library System - Admin Unit branch.
New in Greencastle? 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 $1.66 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Greencastle cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $3.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.3M budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
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 34,849 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Lilian S. Besore Memorial Library is one branch of Franklin County Library System - Admin Unit, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 135,038 people it serves.
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 Greencastle
Does Greencastle have a public library?
Yes: Lilian S. Besore Memorial Library, 305 East Baltimore Street, is a branch of Franklin County Library System - Admin Unit, which serves 135,038 people. The branch is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Franklin County Library System - Admin Unit fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Greencastle’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 2.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Greencastle’s civic life grade?
C Greencastle is ahead of 33% of U.S. towns on civic life, #585 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 Greencastle.
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.