Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 4.0Hastings’ library lends 1.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Hastings Public Library serves 1,213 people in and around Hastings. Last year it lent 5,881 books, movies and e-books and logged 4,420 visits.
Hastings’s library, in brief
Most of Hastings’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 63% of loans, more per resident than at 87% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 37%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
49% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 24%. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Hastings Public Library serves 1,213 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 45 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Hastings Public Library serves more than Hastings
The library’s service area covers 1,213 people in and around Hastings, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Hastings’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Hastings is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns. Hastings is graded on two of the three inputs. Hastings’ count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($53K–$88K) 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 →
4 community nonprofits are registered in Hastings
5.1 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.6%
5.6% of Hastings’ 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 Hastings’ residents live; 2022.
63% of borrowing is digital
5,881 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 15K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
3,716 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Hastings Public Library serves 1,213 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
52 programs a year
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.
Find it
Hastings Public Library, 304 Beaver St., Hastings.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Hastings? 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 $1.41 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hastings cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $64K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $90K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $64K 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 382 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hastings | Hastings Public Library | 4.8 | 45 | C+ |
| Elder Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Susquehanna Township | 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.
- 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 Hastings
Does Hastings have a public library?
Yes. Hastings Public Library, 304 Beaver St., serves 1,213 people in and around Hastings (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hastings 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 Hastings’ library?
It logged 3.6 visits and lent 4.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Hastings’ civic life grade?
C+ Hastings is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Hastings.
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.