Photo: David Fulmer · CC BY-SA 2.0Greensburg’s library logs 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Greensburg Hempfield Area Library serves 73,274 people in and around Greensburg. Last year it lent 165K books, movies and e-books and logged 79K visits.
The short version on Greensburg’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
51% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 20%. What your card is worth ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 12% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
69% of the 1,122 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 11 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Greensburg Hempfield Area Library spends $12 per resident, less than 93% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). 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; Greensburg Hempfield Area Library serves 73,274 people in and around Greensburg, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Greensburg’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Greensburg is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns, #131 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Greensburg is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Greensburg’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 →
70 community nonprofits are registered in Greensburg
4.8 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 (14 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.3%
8.3% of Greensburg’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 Greensburg’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Greensburg Hempfield Area Library serves 73,274 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 44 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Greensburg Hempfield Area Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
165K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
38,362 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 15 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
Greensburg Hempfield Area Library, 237 South Pennsylvania Avenue, Greensburg.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Greensburg Hempfield Area Library branch.
New in Greensburg? 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 $3.22 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Greensburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $866K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $866K 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 8,504 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greensburg | Greensburg Hempfield Area Library fine-free | — | 45 | B+ |
| Southwest Greensburg | 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.
- System-wide. Greensburg Hempfield Area Library serves 73,274 people in and around Greensburg, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Greensburg.
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 Greensburg
Does Greensburg have a public library?
Yes. Greensburg Hempfield Area Library, 237 South Pennsylvania Avenue, serves 73,274 people in and around Greensburg (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Greensburg Hempfield Area Library 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 Greensburg’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 2.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Greensburg’s civic life grade?
B+ Greensburg is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns on civic life, #131 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 Greensburg.
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.