Photo: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers · Public domainLower Burrell’s library is a branch of Peoples Library, which lends less per resident than 92% of systems its size
Lower Burrell’s library is the Lower Burrell Branch Library, a branch of Peoples Library, which serves 40,970 people and lent 43K items last year.
What Lower Burrell’s library is like
The Peoples Library system is used less than most libraries its size
The Peoples Library system records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 0.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $8 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
47% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 27%. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
76% of the 749 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 10 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 8% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
The Peoples Library system spends $8 per resident, less than 97% 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; Lower Burrell’s library is a branch of Peoples Library, so they cover the whole system (40,970 people), not just the Lower Burrell branch.
What’s behind Lower Burrell’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lower Burrell is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns, #820 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Lower Burrell is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Lower Burrell’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Peoples Library spends $8 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($63K–$106K) 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 →
40 community nonprofits are registered in Lower Burrell
3.4 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 (11 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.1%
5.1% of Lower Burrell’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 Lower Burrell’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.
Peoples Library serves 40,970 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Peoples Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
43K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
8,043 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 11 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
Lower Burrell Branch Library, 3052 Wachter Avenue, Lower Burrell.
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 Peoples Library branch.
New in Lower Burrell? 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 $2.07 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lower Burrell cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $334K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $691K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $334K 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 3,326 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plum | Plum Borough Community Library fine-free | 5.9 | 51 | D |
| Lower Burrell | Lower Burrell Branch Library fine-free | — | 31 | C− |
| New Kensington | Peoples Library fine-free | — | 43 | C− |
| Harrison Township | Community Library of Allegheny Valley fine-free | — | 46 | C− |
| Upper Burrell Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Allegheny Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Natrona | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Tarentum | 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. Lower Burrell Branch Library is one branch of Peoples Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 40,970 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 Lower Burrell
Does Lower Burrell have a public library?
Yes: Lower Burrell Branch Library, 3052 Wachter Avenue, is a branch of Peoples Library, which serves 40,970 people. The branch is open about 31 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Peoples 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 Lower Burrell’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 1.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Lower Burrell’s civic life grade?
C− Lower Burrell is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns on civic life, #820 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 Lower Burrell.
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.