Photo: Dough4872 · CC BY-SA 4.0Lewistown’s library lends 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Mifflin County Library serves 46,143 people in and around Lewistown. Last year it lent 78K books, movies and e-books and drew 2,944 people to its programs.
What Lewistown’s library is like
Pennsylvania pays a big share
71% of the budget comes from the state, and 20% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Mifflin County Library sits below the middle on all six per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on six. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Mifflin County Library offered 102 programs last year, 2.2 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Mifflin County Library spends $11 per resident, less than 94% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). 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; Mifflin County Library serves 46,143 people in and around Lewistown, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Lewistown’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lewistown is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns, #201 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Lewistown is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Lewistown’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
25 community nonprofits are registered in Lewistown
2.9 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.0%
11.0% of Lewistown’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 Lewistown’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Mifflin County Library serves 46,143 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 27 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mifflin County Library system. The library’s own count.
Visits aren’t shown: this year’s report counted only 11,996 visits against 78K loans, so we leave the count out.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
78K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
21,735 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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
Mifflin County Library, 123 North Wayne St., Lewistown.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Mifflin County Library branch.
New in Lewistown? 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 $2.37 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lewistown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $512K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $512K 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 13,766 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lewistown | Mifflin County Library | — | 45 | B |
| Granville Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Derry Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Highland Park | 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. Mifflin County Library serves 46,143 people in and around Lewistown, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Lewistown.
- Visits left out. This year’s visit count is far below what the library lends, so we leave it out.
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 Lewistown
Does Lewistown have a public library?
Yes. Mifflin County Library, 123 North Wayne St., serves 46,143 people in and around Lewistown (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mifflin County 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 Lewistown’s library?
It lent 1.7 items per resident in 2024 (print and digital) and ran 102 programs that drew 2,944 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Lewistown’s civic life grade?
B Lewistown is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns on civic life, #201 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 Lewistown.
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.