Photo: Smallbones · CC BY-SA 3.0Lansdowne’s library runs 55 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Lansdowne Public Library serves Lansdowne’s 11,107 residents. Last year it lent 84K books, movies and e-books and logged 49K visits.
The short version on Lansdowne’s library
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Lansdowne Public Library ran 608 programs last year, about 12 a week. That’s 55 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Programs lean toward adults
52% of the 608 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 167 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.
What’s behind Lansdowne’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Lansdowne is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns, #494 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($55K–$92K) 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 →
48 community nonprofits are registered in Lansdowne
4.3 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 (19 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.2%
4.2% of Lansdowne’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 Lansdowne’s residents live; 2022.
About 3 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Lansdowne last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Lansdowne Public Library serves 11,107 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 28 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
84K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 55K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.
13,361 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Lansdowne Public Library, 55 South Lansdowne Ave, Lansdowne.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Lansdowne? 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 $1.45 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lansdowne cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $917K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $917K 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 3,594 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lansdowne | Lansdowne Public Library | 7.6 | 57 | C+ |
| Yeadon | Yeadon Public Library | 2.7 | 52 | C |
| Upper Darby Township | Upper Darby Township & Sellers Memorial Free Public Library fine-free | — | 53 | D |
| Clifton Heights | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Drexel Hill | 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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Lansdowne
Does Lansdowne have a public library?
Yes. Lansdowne Public Library, 55 South Lansdowne Ave, serves Lansdowne’s 11,107 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lansdowne 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 Lansdowne’s library?
It logged 4.4 visits and lent 7.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Lansdowne’s civic life grade?
C+ Lansdowne is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns on civic life, #494 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 Lansdowne.
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.