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Kennett SquarePhoto: Coemgenus at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0
Kennett Library

Kennett Square’s library runs 38 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size

Kennett Library serves 43,402 people in and around Kennett Square. Last year it lent 251K books, movies and e-books and logged 174K visits.

216 East State Street, Kennett Square 19348 · about 61 hours a week
B−Civic lifeAhead of 46% of U.S. towns · #407 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Directions (610) 444-2702 What’s a card worth?
Borrowed a year
251K
5.8 per resident
Visits a year
174K
4 per resident · Above typical (2.6)
Programs & events
1,645
about 32 a week · 25K attended
Cardholders
38%
16,283 cards
Open
61 hrs
a week at this branch
In brief

What Kennett Square’s library is like

Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes

82% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 14%. What your card is worth ↓

Twice the programs of a typical library its size

Kennett Library ran 1,645 programs last year, about 32 a week. That’s 38 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓

Programs lean toward adults

62% of the 1,645 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 495 were for children. Kids & programs ↓

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; Kennett Library serves 43,402 people in and around Kennett Square, and its numbers cover all of them.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Kennett Square’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Kennett Square is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns, #407 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Kennett Square is graded on two of the three inputs. Kennett Square’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.

B−
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Kennett Square’s overall grade.
–Library visitsServed by a county or regional system, so there is no town figureBCommunity nonprofits4.5 per 1,000 residents · PA towns 3.7 · U.S. 3.7CVolunteering6.4% of adults 25–44 · PA towns 7.0% · U.S. 7.5%
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 46%
FewerMore
Pennsylvania towns we grade (1,029)Ahead of 61%
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $60K–$101K (9,109)Ahead of 44%

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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Kennett Square is small (6,893 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

28 community nonprofits are registered in Kennett Square

4.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture20.38 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation40.67 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans50.80 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services50.75 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education50.80 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health20.26 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals20.34 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other30.54 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

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. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.

Volunteering

6.4%

6.4% of Kennett Square’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 Kennett Square’s residents live; 2022.

★ What stands out · Kids & programs

About 10 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Kennett Square →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–5196
Ages 6–11299
Teens135
Adults1,015
All ages0
Little ones
3.8

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

84K
kids’ books & media borrowed
25K
people at programs
1,645
programs
How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 4 visits · typical 2.6Higher than 76%
Borrowing per resident 3.5 print items · typical 3.7Lower than 53%
Digital borrowing 2.3 e-items · typical 1.2Higher than 78%
Kids’ borrowing 1.9 kids’ items · typical 1.7Higher than 55%
Program attendance 0.6 attendees · typical 0.3Higher than 79%
Programs offered 37.9 per 1,000 residents · typical 14Top 10%
Cardholders 38% of residents · typical 39%Lower than 53%
Spending $51 per resident · typical $40Higher than 64%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Kennett Library serves 43,402 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 80 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Kennett Library system. The library’s own count.

174K
visits
4 per resident
251K
loans, print + digital
5.8 per resident
1,645
programs & events
25K attended
16K
library cards
38% of people served
Every open hour80items borrowed
Every week484people at a program
Every day139Wi-Fi sessions
23 staff (full-time equivalent)28 public computers
What people borrow

More than half the print loans are kids’ books

251K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

251Kloans
Books & media (adults) 27%Kids’ books & media 33%E-books, audio & streaming 39%
From your couch

98,681 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

The building

Find it

Kennett Library, 216 East State Street, Kennett Square.

Directions(610) 444-2702
61
hours open a week
11,017
square feet
With a card

E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Kennett Library branch.

New in Kennett Square? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.84 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Kennett Square cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
1
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$384
a year at retail prices · $32 a month

Who pays for it
$51 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.2M.

Local taxes 14%State 4%Gifts & other 82%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.2M 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 16,283 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • System-wide. Kennett Library serves 43,402 people in and around Kennett Square, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Kennett Square.

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 Kennett Square

Does Kennett Square have a public library?

Yes. Kennett Library, 216 East State Street, serves 43,402 people in and around Kennett Square (the survey’s count) and is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Kennett 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 Kennett Square’s library?

It logged 4.0 visits and lent 5.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.

What is Kennett Square’s civic life grade?

B− Kennett Square is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns on civic life, #407 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 Kennett Square.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.