Photo: Andrew Rodland · CC BY-SA 3.0Honesdale’s library logs 1.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Wayne County Public Library serves 26,091 people in and around Honesdale. Last year it lent 74K books, movies and e-books and logged 42K visits.
Honesdale’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
53% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 21%. What your card is worth ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Wayne County Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on five. 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; Wayne County Public Library serves 26,091 people in and around Honesdale, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Honesdale’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Honesdale is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns, #14 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Honesdale is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Honesdale’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 →
32 community nonprofits are registered in Honesdale
7.1 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.0%
10.0% of Honesdale’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 Honesdale’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Wayne County Public Library serves 26,091 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 33 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Wayne County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
74K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
15,677 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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
Wayne County Public Library, 1406 Main St., Honesdale.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Wayne County Public Library branch.
New in Honesdale? 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 $1.75 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Honesdale cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $695K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $695K budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
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 7,627 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Honesdale | Wayne County Public Library fine-free | — | 44 | A |
| Texas Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Dyberry Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
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. Wayne County Public Library serves 26,091 people in and around Honesdale, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Honesdale.
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 Honesdale
Does Honesdale have a public library?
Yes. Wayne County Public Library, 1406 Main St., serves 26,091 people in and around Honesdale (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Wayne County Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Honesdale’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 2.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Honesdale’s civic life grade?
A Honesdale is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns on civic life, #14 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 Honesdale.
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.