Photo: Andrew Bossi · CC BY-SA 2.5Liberty Township’s library logs 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Saxton Community Library serves 3,864 people in and around Liberty Township. Last year it lent 8,509 books, movies and e-books and logged 4,683 visits.
The short version on Liberty Township’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
55% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 18%. What your card is worth ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, Saxton Community Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on five. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 17% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
72% of the 123 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 28 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; Saxton Community Library serves 3,864 people in and around Liberty Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Liberty Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Liberty Township is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns. Liberty Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Liberty Township’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Liberty Township
5.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.9%
6.9% of Liberty 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 Liberty Township’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Saxton Community Library serves 3,864 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Saxton Community Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
8,509 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,667 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
123 programs a year
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
Saxton Community Library, 315 Front St., Saxton.
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 Saxton Community Library branch.
New in Liberty 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 $1.64 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Liberty Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $88K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $144K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $88K 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 639 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberty Township | Saxton Community Library fine-free | — | 29 | B |
| Broad Top Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| North Woodbury Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Woodbury Township | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Hopewell Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Riddlesburg | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Carbon Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| South Woodbury Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
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. Saxton Community Library serves 3,864 people in and around Liberty Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Liberty Township.
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 Liberty Township
Does Liberty Township have a public library?
Yes. Saxton Community Library, 315 Front St., serves 3,864 people in and around Liberty Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 29 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Saxton Community 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 Liberty Township’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 2.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Liberty Township’s civic life grade?
B Liberty Township is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Liberty 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.