Photo: Andre Carrotflower · CC BY-SA 4.0Latrobe’s library runs 7.2 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Adams Memorial Library serves 48,983 people in and around Latrobe. Last year it lent 112K books, movies and e-books and logged 78K visits.
What Latrobe’s library is like
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
68% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 10%. What your card is worth ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Adams Memorial Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on seven. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
89% of the 353 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 3.7 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 11% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
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; Adams Memorial Library serves 48,983 people in and around Latrobe, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Latrobe’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Latrobe is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns, #123 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Latrobe is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
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 →
33 community nonprofits are registered in Latrobe
4.2 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.2%
9.2% of Latrobe’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 Latrobe’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Adams Memorial Library serves 48,983 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 Adams Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
112K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
21,385 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 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
Adams Memorial Library, 1112 Ligonier St., Latrobe.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Adams Memorial Library branch.
New in Latrobe? 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 $2.44 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Latrobe cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $710K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $710K budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
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 5,532 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Latrobe | Adams Memorial Library fine-free | — | 43 | B+ |
| Derry Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Unity Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Lawson Heights | 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. Adams Memorial Library serves 48,983 people in and around Latrobe, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Latrobe.
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 Latrobe
Does Latrobe have a public library?
Yes. Adams Memorial Library, 1112 Ligonier St., serves 48,983 people in and around Latrobe (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Adams Memorial Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Latrobe’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 2.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Latrobe’s civic life grade?
B+ Latrobe is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns on civic life, #123 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 Latrobe.
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.