Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Leacock Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Pequea Valley Public Library · part of Intercourse Library

Leacock Township’s library is a branch of Intercourse Library, which lends more per resident than 88% of systems its size

Leacock Township’s library is the Pequea Valley Public Library, a branch of Intercourse Library, which serves 22,818 people and lent 213K items last year.

31 Center Street, Intercourse 17534 · about 44 hours a week
DCivic lifeAhead of 12% of U.S. towns · #942 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Borrowed a year
213K
9.3 per resident
Visits a year
31K
1.4 per resident · Below typical (3.1)
Programs & events
80
about 2 a week · 829 attended
Cardholders
18%
4,024 cards
Open
44 hrs
a week at this branch
In brief

What Leacock Township’s library is like

More than half the print loans are for kids

Children’s books and media are 74% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓

People borrow more than they stay

Borrowing per resident is higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 81%. People come in, pick up their books and go. How it compares ↓

Few programs for a library this size

The Intercourse Library system offered 80 programs last year, 3.5 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓

Programs are almost all for children

81% of the 80 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.1 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓

Gifts and endowments pay a real share

32% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 24%. 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; Leacock Township’s library is a branch of Intercourse Library, so they cover the whole system (22,818 people), not just the Leacock Township branch.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Leacock Township’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Leacock Township is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns, #942 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Leacock Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Leacock Township’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.

D
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Leacock Township’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 12%
FewerMore
Pennsylvania towns we grade (1,029)Ahead of 8%
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $62K–$104K (8,894)Ahead of 11%

Intercourse Library spends $13 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.

Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($62K–$104K) 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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Leacock Township is small (5,672 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

16 community nonprofits are registered in Leacock Township

2.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture30.53 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation20.26 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans20.39 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services71.23 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education00.05 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals10.19 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other10.21 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.

Volunteering

4.6%

4.6% of Leacock 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 Leacock Township’s residents live; 2022.

★ What stands out · Kids & programs

About 1 kids’ program a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Leacock Township →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–558
Ages 6–117
Teens0
Adults0
All ages15
Little ones
1.1

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

154K
kids’ books & media borrowed
829
people at programs
80
programs
How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 1.4 visits · typical 3.1Lower than 81%
Borrowing per resident 9.1 print items · typical 3.9Higher than 88%
Digital borrowing 0.3 e-items · typical 1.1Lower than 88%
Kids’ borrowing 6.7 kids’ items · typical 1.8Top 10%
Program attendance 0 attendees · typical 0.4Bottom 10%
Programs offered 3.5 per 1,000 residents · typical 24Bottom 10%
Cardholders 18% of residents · typical 40%Bottom 10%
Spending $13 per resident · typical $43Bottom 10%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Intercourse Library serves 22,818 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 56 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Intercourse Library system. The library’s own count.

31K
visits
1.4 per resident
213K
loans, print + digital
9.3 per resident
80
programs & events
829 attended
4,024
library cards
18% of people served
Every open hour56items borrowed
Every week16people at a program
Every day13Wi-Fi sessions
4 staff (full-time equivalent)9 public computers
What people borrow

More than half the print loans are kids’ books

213K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

213Kloans
Books & media (adults) 25%Kids’ books & media 72%E-books, audio & streaming 3%
From your couch

5,742 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

The building

Find it

Pequea Valley Public Library, 31 Center Street, Intercourse.

44
hours open a week
8,500
square feet
With a card

E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Intercourse Library branch.

New in Leacock Township? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $9.77 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Leacock Township cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
3
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$636
a year at retail prices · $53 a month

Who pays for it
$13 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $293K.

Local taxes 24%State 43%Gifts & other 32%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $293K 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 4,024 cardholders ÷ 12.

Next door

Libraries next door

Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.

12+ loans per resident8–124–8Under 4No library / shared system
TownLibraryLoans per residentHoursCivic life
Leacock TownshipPequea Valley Public Library—44D
Earl TownshipEastern Lancaster County Library—49C−
Salisbury TownshipSalisbury Township Branch Library—30D
Paradise TownshipNone of its own——D
Upper Leacock TownshipNone of its own——D
SoudersburgNone of its own——— under 1,000 residents
East Lampeter TownshipNone 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).

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • System-wide. Pequea Valley Public Library is one branch of Intercourse Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 22,818 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 Leacock Township

Does Leacock Township have a public library?

Yes: Pequea Valley Public Library, 31 Center Street, is a branch of Intercourse Library, which serves 22,818 people. The branch is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Intercourse 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 Leacock Township’s library?

It logged 1.4 visits and lent 9.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.

What is Leacock Township’s civic life grade?

D Leacock Township is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns on civic life, #942 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 Leacock Township.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.