Photo: Idawriter · CC BY-SA 3.0Hanover’s library logs 2.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Guthrie Memorial Library - Hanover's Public Library serves Hanover’s 50,419 residents. Last year it lent 175K books, movies and e-books and logged 121K visits.
The short version on Hanover’s library
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
32% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 47%. What your card is worth ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 0% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 99% of similar-size libraries. The print collection works hard: each item went out about 2.1 times last year. What people borrow ↓
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.
What’s behind Hanover’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Hanover is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns, #778 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Hanover is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Hanover’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Guthrie Memorial Library - Hanover's Public Library spends $19 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($46K–$77K) 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 →
51 community nonprofits are registered in Hanover
3.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (12 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.
6.0%
6.0% of Hanover’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 Hanover’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Guthrie Memorial Library - Hanover's Public Library serves 50,419 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 72 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
175K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 83K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.1 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Hanover last year.
Find it
Guthrie Memorial Library - Hanover's Public L, 2 Library Place, Hanover.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Hanover? 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 $2.91 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hanover cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $955K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $955K 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 20,442 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hanover | Guthrie Memorial Library - Hanover's Public L | 3.5 | 47 | C− |
| Penn Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Pennville | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Parkville | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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 Hanover
Does Hanover have a public library?
Yes. Guthrie Memorial Library - Hanover's Public Library, 2 Library Place, serves Hanover’s 50,419 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Guthrie Memorial Library - Hanover's 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 Hanover’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 3.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Hanover’s civic life grade?
C− Hanover is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns on civic life, #778 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 Hanover.
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.