Photo: Harrison Keely · CC BY 4.0Huntingdon’s library logs 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Huntingdon County Library serves 44,092 people in and around Huntingdon. Last year it lent 61K books, movies and e-books and logged 38K visits.
What Huntingdon’s library is like
Huntingdon County Library is used less than most libraries its size
Huntingdon County Library records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $9 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
54% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 13%. What your card is worth ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 9% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Huntingdon County Library spends $9 per resident, less than 96% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). What your card is worth ↓
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; Huntingdon County Library serves 44,092 people in and around Huntingdon, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Huntingdon’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Huntingdon is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns, #82 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Huntingdon is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Huntingdon’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 →
38 community nonprofits are registered in Huntingdon
5.5 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.
8.4%
8.4% of Huntingdon’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 Huntingdon’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.
Huntingdon County Library serves 44,092 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 23 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Huntingdon County Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
61K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
7,404 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
Huntingdon County Library, 330 Penn St., Huntingdon.
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 Huntingdon County Library branch.
New in Huntingdon? 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 $2.45 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Huntingdon cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $405K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $992K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $405K 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 3,792 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Huntingdon | Huntingdon County Library fine-free | — | 50 | A− |
| Oneida Township | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
| Smithfield Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Henderson Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Huntingdon County Library serves 44,092 people in and around Huntingdon, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Huntingdon.
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 Huntingdon
Does Huntingdon have a public library?
Yes. Huntingdon County Library, 330 Penn St., serves 44,092 people in and around Huntingdon (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Huntingdon County 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 Huntingdon’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 1.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Huntingdon’s civic life grade?
A− Huntingdon is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns on civic life, #82 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 Huntingdon.
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.