Photo: Self · Public domainHazleton’s library lends 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Hazleton Area Public Library serves 78,760 people in and around Hazleton. Last year it lent 84K books, movies and e-books and logged 137K visits.
The short version on Hazleton’s library
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Hazleton Area Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on seven. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
85% of the 377 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 3.1 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Hazleton Area Public Library offered 377 programs last year, 4.8 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
People visit, but borrow less than most
Hazleton Area Public Library lends 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, fewer than 91% of similar-size libraries, though visits are closer to typical. 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; Hazleton Area Public Library serves 78,760 people in and around Hazleton, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Hazleton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Hazleton is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns, #1,017 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Hazleton is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Hazleton’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Hazleton Area Public Library spends $16 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($35K–$58K) 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 →
68 community nonprofits are registered in Hazleton
2.3 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 (26 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
2.0%
2.0% of Hazleton’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 Hazleton’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Hazleton Area Public Library serves 78,760 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Hazleton Area Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
84K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
12,732 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. 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, 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.
Find it
Hazleton Area Public Library, 55 N Church St., Hazleton.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Hazleton Area Public Library branch.
New in Hazleton? 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 $1.08 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hazleton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.3M 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 16,355 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hazleton | Hazleton Area Public Library | — | 59 | D− |
| Hazle Township | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| West Hazleton | None of its own | — | — | D− |
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. Hazleton Area Public Library serves 78,760 people in and around Hazleton, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Hazleton.
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 Hazleton
Does Hazleton have a public library?
Yes. Hazleton Area Public Library, 55 N Church St., serves 78,760 people in and around Hazleton (the survey’s count) and is open about 59 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hazleton Area 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 Hazleton’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 1.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Hazleton’s civic life grade?
D− Hazleton is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns on civic life, #1,017 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 Hazleton.
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.