Photo: GalaMoruu · CC BY-SA 4.0Lock Haven’s library runs 17 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Annie Halenbake Ross Library serves 37,450 people in and around Lock Haven. Last year it lent 56K books, movies and e-books and logged 38K visits.
Lock Haven’s library, in brief
Annie Halenbake Ross Library is used less than most libraries its size
Annie Halenbake Ross Library records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 1.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $19 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 18% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
26% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 29%. 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; Annie Halenbake Ross Library serves 37,450 people in and around Lock Haven, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Lock Haven’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lock Haven is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns, #23 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Lock Haven 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 →
41 community nonprofits are registered in Lock Haven
4.8 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
12.8%
12.8% of Lock Haven’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 Lock Haven’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Annie Halenbake Ross Library serves 37,450 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Annie Halenbake Ross Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
56K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
14,043 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 7 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
Annie Halenbake Ross Library, 232 West Main St., Lock Haven.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Annie Halenbake Ross Library branch.
New in Lock Haven? 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 $1.24 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lock Haven cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $698K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $866K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $698K 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 6,647 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lock Haven | Annie Halenbake Ross Library fine-free | — | 48 | A |
| Castanea Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Woodward Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Flemington | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Allison Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Annie Halenbake Ross Library serves 37,450 people in and around Lock Haven, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Lock Haven.
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 Lock Haven
Does Lock Haven have a public library?
Yes. Annie Halenbake Ross Library, 232 West Main St., serves 37,450 people in and around Lock Haven (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Annie Halenbake Ross 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 Lock Haven’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 1.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Lock Haven’s civic life grade?
A Lock Haven is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns on civic life, #23 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 Lock Haven.
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.