Photo: Mike Kalasnik from Fort Mill, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0Hellertown’s library lends 8.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Hellertown Area Library serves 6,132 people in and around Hellertown. Last year it lent 53K books, movies and e-books and logged 31K visits.
Hellertown’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 67% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 94% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
80% of the 309 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 3.3 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
30% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 58%. What your card is worth ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
5,235 cards for 6,132 people, or 85%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 1% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 89% of similar-size libraries. 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; Hellertown Area Library serves 6,132 people in and around Hellertown, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Hellertown’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Hellertown is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns, #38 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Hellertown’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
46 community nonprofits are registered in Hellertown
7.5 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.9%
8.9% of Hellertown’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 Hellertown’s residents live; 2022.
About 5 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Hellertown Area Library serves 6,132 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 23 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Hellertown Area Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
53K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
632 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Hellertown Area Library, 409 Constitution Ave, Hellertown.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Hellertown Area Library branch.
New in Hellertown? 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 $3.00 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hellertown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $271K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $812K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $271K 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 5,235 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hellertown | Hellertown Area Library | — | 44 | A |
| Bethlehem | Bethlehem Area Public Library | — | 55 | C+ |
| Lower Saucon Township | 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. Hellertown Area Library serves 6,132 people in and around Hellertown, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Hellertown.
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 Hellertown
Does Hellertown have a public library?
Yes. Hellertown Area Library, 409 Constitution Ave, serves 6,132 people in and around Hellertown (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hellertown Area 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 Hellertown’s library?
It logged 5.1 visits and lent 8.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Hellertown’s civic life grade?
A Hellertown is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns on civic life, #38 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 Hellertown.
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.