Photo: Ted Van Pelt · CC BY 2.0Harrisburg’s library is a branch of Dauphin County Library System, which lends more per resident than 51% of systems its size
Harrisburg’s library is the Mccormick Riverfront Library, a branch of Dauphin County Library System, which serves 252,153 people and lent 1.1M items last year.
What stands out about Mccormick Riverfront Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Harrisburg’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Harrisburg is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns, #191 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Harrisburg is graded on two of the three inputs. Harrisburg’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
434 community nonprofits are registered in Harrisburg
8.6 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 (93 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 16 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.0%
6.0% of Harrisburg’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 Harrisburg’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Dauphin County Library System serves 252,153 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 63 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Dauphin County Library System system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
1.1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
285,860 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.
3 places to borrow in Harrisburg
Mccormick Riverfront Library, 101 Walnut Street, Harrisburg.
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 Dauphin County Library System branch.
New in Harrisburg? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Dauphin County Library System branches in Harrisburg
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.33 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Harrisburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $7.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $18M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $7.6M 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 57,649 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Cumberland | New Cumberland Public Library | 23.9 | 54 | A− |
| Harrisburg | Mccormick Riverfront Library fine-free | — | 45 | B |
| East Pennsboro Township | East Pennsboro Library | — | 41 | C+ |
| Susquehanna Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Wormleysburg | None of its own | — | — | C |
| West Fairview | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Lemoyne | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Swatara Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Paxtang | 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. Mccormick Riverfront Library is one branch of Dauphin County Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 252,153 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 Harrisburg
Does Harrisburg have a public library?
Yes: Mccormick Riverfront Library, 101 Walnut Street, is a branch of Dauphin County Library System, which serves 252,153 people. The branch is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dauphin County Library System 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 Harrisburg’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 4.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Harrisburg’s civic life grade?
B Harrisburg is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns on civic life, #191 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 Harrisburg.
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.