Photo: Pubdog · Public domainLawrence Park Township’s library is a branch of Erie County Public Library, which lends more per resident than 63% of systems its size
Lawrence Park Township’s library is the Iroquois Avenue Branch Library, a branch of Erie County Public Library, which serves 237,610 people and lent 1.2M items last year.
What Lawrence Park Township’s library is like
Few residents carry a card
Only 16% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 41% for its size. How it compares ↓
Pennsylvania pays a big share
24% of the budget comes from the state, and 73% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. 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; Lawrence Park Township’s library is a branch of Erie County Public Library, so they cover the whole system (237,610 people), not just the Lawrence Park Township branch.
What’s behind Lawrence Park Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lawrence Park Township is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns, #438 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Lawrence Park Township is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Lawrence Park Township’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($56K–$93K) 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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Lawrence Park Township
2.8 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.5%
8.5% of Lawrence Park Township’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 Lawrence Park Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Erie County Public Library serves 237,610 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 80 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Erie County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1.2M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
168,996 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 14 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
Iroquois Avenue Branch Library, 4212 Iroquois Ave., Erie.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Erie County Public Library branch.
New in Lawrence Park Township? 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 $2.35 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lawrence Park Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $7.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $18M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $7.7M 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 36,995 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lawrence Park Township | Iroquois Avenue Branch Library | — | 51 | C+ |
| Erie | Erie County Public Library | — | 63 | B |
| Northwest Harborcreek | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Harborcreek Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Wesleyville | None of its own | — | — | D |
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. Iroquois Avenue Branch Library is one branch of Erie County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 237,610 people it serves.
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 Lawrence Park Township
Does Lawrence Park Township have a public library?
Yes: Iroquois Avenue Branch Library, 4212 Iroquois Ave., is a branch of Erie County Public Library, which serves 237,610 people. The branch is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Erie County 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 Lawrence Park Township’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 4.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Lawrence Park Township’s civic life grade?
C+ Lawrence Park Township is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns on civic life, #438 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 Lawrence Park Township.
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.