Photo: André Carrotflower · CC BY-SA 2.0Irwin’s library runs 7.8 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Norwin Public Library Association serves 36,605 people in and around Irwin. Last year it lent 196K books, movies and e-books and logged 85K visits.
What stands out about Norwin Public Library Association
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Irwin’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Irwin is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns, #663 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Irwin is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Irwin’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($45K–$75K) 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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in Irwin
3.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.7%
6.7% of Irwin’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 Irwin’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Norwin Public Library Association serves 36,605 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 72 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Norwin Public Library Association system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
196K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
26,657 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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
Norwin Public Library Association, 100 Caruthers Lane, Irwin.
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 Norwin Public Library Association branch.
New in Irwin? 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 $4.20 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Irwin cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $709K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $709K 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 8,412 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Norwin Public Library Association serves 36,605 people in and around Irwin, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Irwin.
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 Irwin
Does Irwin have a public library?
Yes. Norwin Public Library Association, 100 Caruthers Lane, serves 36,605 people in and around Irwin (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Norwin Public Library Association 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 Irwin’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 5.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Irwin’s civic life grade?
C Irwin is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns on civic life, #663 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 Irwin.
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.