Allegheny River Lock and Dam No. 7 · Photo: User:Nyttend · Public domainKittanning’s library runs 50 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Kittanning Public Library serves 5,447 people in and around Kittanning. Last year it lent 16K books, movies and e-books and logged 12K visits.
What’s behind Kittanning’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Kittanning is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns, #400 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Kittanning is graded on two of the three inputs. Kittanning’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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in Kittanning
4.4 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.6%
6.6% of Kittanning’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 Kittanning’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Kittanning Public Library serves 5,447 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Kittanning Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
16K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,004 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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
Kittanning Public Library, 280 N Jefferson St., Kittanning.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Kittanning Public Library branch.
New in Kittanning? 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 $2.07 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Kittanning cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $135K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $280K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $135K 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 3,092 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kittanning | Kittanning Public Library | — | 45 | B− |
| Rayburn Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Manor Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| East Franklin Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| West Hills | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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. Kittanning Public Library serves 5,447 people in and around Kittanning, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Kittanning.
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 Kittanning
Does Kittanning have a public library?
Yes. Kittanning Public Library, 280 N Jefferson St., serves 5,447 people in and around Kittanning (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Kittanning Public 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 Kittanning’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 2.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Kittanning’s civic life grade?
B− Kittanning is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns on civic life, #400 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 Kittanning.
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.