Photo: Darthgriz98 · CC BY-SA 3.0Johnstown’s library logs 1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Cambria County Library System - Admin Unit serves 95,861 people in and around Johnstown. Last year it lent 111K books, movies and e-books and logged 95K visits.
Johnstown’s library, in brief
Pennsylvania pays a big share
54% of the budget comes from the state, and 22% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Cambria County Library System - Admin Unit is used less than most libraries its size
Cambria County Library System - Admin Unit records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 1.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $18 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
The branch is a National Register landmark
Cambria Public Library Building has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1972. Today’s library there has 43,793 square feet. The building ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 16% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 3% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 98% 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; Cambria County Library System - Admin Unit serves 95,861 people in and around Johnstown, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Johnstown’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Johnstown is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns, #179 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Johnstown is graded on two of the three inputs. Johnstown’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
148 community nonprofits are registered in Johnstown
8.2 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 (28 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.2%
6.2% of Johnstown’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 Johnstown’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1972
Cambria County Library System - Admin Unit, 248 Main St., Johnstown.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Cambria County Library System - Admin Unit branch.
New in Johnstown? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Cambria Public Library Building
Cambria Public Library Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jun 19, 1972. It is significant for its architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as French Gothic and Victorian.
The Johnstown Flood Museum is a history museum located in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, dedicated to the Johnstown Flood of 1889. The museum is housed in the former Cambria Public Library, which is part of the Downtown Johnstown Historic District.
More about the building →Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Cambria County Library System - Admin Unit serves 95,861 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 35 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Cambria County Library System - Admin Unit system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
111K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,716 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 8 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.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.05 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Johnstown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.7M 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 14,959 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnstown | Cambria County Library System - Admin Unit | — | 61 | B+ |
| Lower Yoder Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Westmont | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Stonycreek Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| West Taylor Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Oakland | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Southmont | None of its own | — | — | B |
| East Taylor Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Elim | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Ferndale | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Upper Yoder Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
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. Cambria County Library System - Admin Unit serves 95,861 people in and around Johnstown, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Johnstown.
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 Johnstown
Does Johnstown have a public library?
Yes. Cambria County Library System - Admin Unit, 248 Main St., serves 95,861 people in and around Johnstown (the survey’s count) and is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cambria County Library System - Admin Unit 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 Johnstown’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 1.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Johnstown’s civic life grade?
B+ Johnstown is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns on civic life, #179 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 Johnstown.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.