Photo: Shuvaev · CC BY-SA 3.0Hatboro’s library logs 7.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Union Library Company of Hatborough serves Hatboro’s 8,238 residents. Last year it lent 35K books, movies and e-books and logged 59K visits.
The short version on Hatboro’s library
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 86% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 31%. Program attendance beats 75% of similar libraries. A year at the library ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
48% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 46%. What your card is worth ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Union Library Company has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1980. Today’s library there has 5,050 square feet. The building ↓
41% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 41% of loans, more per resident than at 71% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 59%, much of it kids’ books. 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 Hatboro’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Hatboro is ahead of 53% of U.S. towns, #315 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Library visits hold the grade up; Hatboro’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
21 community nonprofits are registered in Hatboro
2.6 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.2%
7.2% of Hatboro’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 Hatboro’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Union Library Company of Hatborough serves 8,238 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
41% of borrowing is digital
35K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 19K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
14,308 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 7 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 Hatboro last year.
A National Register landmark since 1980
Union Library Company of Hatborough, 243 South York Rd, Hatboro.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Hatboro? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Union Library Company
Union Library Company was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Nov 20, 1980. It is significant for its education and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Greek Revival.
The Union Library Company is an historic library building in Hatboro, Pennsylvania, United States. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.93 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hatboro cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $306K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $591K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $306K 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 2,747 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upper Moreland Township | Upper Moreland Free Public Library fine-free | 7.8 | 54 | C− |
| Hatboro | Union Library Company of Hatborough | 4.2 | 54 | B− |
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 Hatboro
Does Hatboro have a public library?
Yes. Union Library Company of Hatborough, 243 South York Rd, serves Hatboro’s 8,238 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Union Library Company of Hatborough 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 Hatboro’s library?
It logged 7.2 visits and lent 4.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Hatboro’s civic life grade?
B− Hatboro is ahead of 53% of U.S. towns on civic life, #315 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 Hatboro.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.