Fulton Opera House · Photo: Scanlan · CC BY-SA 3.0Lancaster’s library logs 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Lancaster Public Library serves 214,988 people in and around Lancaster. Last year it lent 908K books, movies and e-books and logged 236K visits.
Lancaster’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
63% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 14%. What your card is worth ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Lancaster Public Library offered 751 programs last year, 3.5 per 1,000 residents against a typical 9. Kids & programs ↓
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 56% of loans, more per resident than at 71% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 44%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 13% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 41% for its size. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Lancaster Public Library spends $11 per resident, less than 97% of similar-size libraries (typical: $36). 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; Lancaster Public Library serves 214,988 people in and around Lancaster, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Lancaster’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lancaster is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns, #431 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Lancaster is graded on two of the three inputs. Lancaster’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($48K–$80K) 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 →
298 community nonprofits are registered in Lancaster
5.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (75 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 16 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.6%
5.6% of Lancaster’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 Lancaster’s residents live; 2022.
56% of borrowing is digital
908K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
508,298 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Lancaster Public Library serves 214,988 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 176 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Lancaster Public Library system. The library’s own count.
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.
Find it
Lancaster Public Library, 151 North Queen St., Lancaster.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Lancaster Public Library branch.
New in Lancaster? 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 $5.78 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lancaster cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $2.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $14M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.3M 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 27,792 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manheim Township | Manheim Township Public Library | 17.5 | 49 | B− |
| Lancaster | Lancaster Public Library | — | 56 | C+ |
| West Lampeter Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Lancaster Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| East Lampeter Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Willow Street | 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. Lancaster Public Library serves 214,988 people in and around Lancaster, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Lancaster.
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 Lancaster
Does Lancaster have a public library?
Yes. Lancaster Public Library, 151 North Queen St., serves 214,988 people in and around Lancaster (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lancaster 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 Lancaster’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 4.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Lancaster’s civic life grade?
C+ Lancaster is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns on civic life, #431 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 Lancaster.
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.