Photo: Ii2nmd · CC BY-SA 4.0Haverford Township’s library logs 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Haverford Township Free Library Association serves Haverford Township’s 50,431 residents. Last year it lent 276K books, movies and e-books and logged 58K visits.
What Haverford Township’s library is like
Every town next door borrows more
Haverford Township’s library lends 5.5 items per resident. Each of the seven neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Lower Merion Township at 18. Libraries next door ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 62% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 57% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
41% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 41% of loans, more per resident than at 77% 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 Haverford Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Haverford Township is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns, #337 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
214 community nonprofits are registered in Haverford Township
4.2 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 (40 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 7 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
11.6%
11.6% of Haverford Township’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 Haverford Township’s residents live; 2022.
41% of borrowing is digital
276K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 73K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.2 times last year, on average.
113,584 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 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Haverford Township Free Library Association serves 50,431 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 95 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 4 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 Haverford Township last year.
Find it
Haverford Township Free Library, 1601 Darby Road, Havertown.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Haverford Township? 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 $3.03 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Haverford Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.4M 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 16,626 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Haverford Township ranks 8th of 8 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Merion Township | Ludington Public Library | 18.2 | 66 | A |
| Penn Wynne | Penn Wynne Library | 18.2 | 56 | — graded as part of its town |
| Bryn Mawr | Ludington Public Library | 18.2 | 66 | — graded as part of its town |
| Marple Township | Marple Public Library | 11.8 | 59 | C+ |
| Broomall | Marple Public Library | 11.8 | 59 | — graded as part of its town |
| Radnor Township | Memorial Library of Radnor Township | 10.0 | 69 | B+ |
| Springfield Township | Springfield Township Library fine-free | 7.1 | 56 | B |
| Haverford Township | Haverford Township Free Library | 5.5 | 56 | B− |
| Upper Darby Township | Upper Darby Township & Sellers Memorial Free Public Library fine-free | — | 53 | D |
| Drexel Hill | 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 Haverford Township
Does Haverford Township have a public library?
Yes. Haverford Township Free Library Association, 1601 Darby Road, serves Haverford Township’s 50,431 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Haverford Township Free Library Association 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 Haverford Township’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 5.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Haverford Township’s civic life grade?
B− Haverford Township is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns on civic life, #337 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 Haverford Township.
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.