Benjamin Taylor Homestead · Photo: Shuvaev · CC BY-SA 3.0Lower Makefield Township’s library is a branch of Bucks County Free Library, which lends less per resident than 51% of systems its size
Lower Makefield Township’s library is the Yardley Makefield Branch Library, a branch of Bucks County Free Library, which serves 507,641 people and lent 2.1M items last year.
The short version on Lower Makefield Township’s library
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 100,000+ people, the Bucks County Free Library system sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on three. How it compares ↓
Pennsylvania pays a big share
32% of the budget comes from the state, and 55% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. 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 Makefield Township’s library is a branch of Bucks County Free Library, so they cover the whole system (507,641 people), not just the Lower Makefield Township branch.
What’s behind Lower Makefield Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lower Makefield Township is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns, #440 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Lower Makefield Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($131K–$219K) 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 →
116 community nonprofits are registered in Lower Makefield Township
3.5 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 (18 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.5%
7.5% of Lower Makefield 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 Lower Makefield Township’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Bucks County Free Library serves 507,641 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 94 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bucks County Free Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
2.1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
500,537 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 38 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
Yardley Makefield Branch Library, 1080 Edgewood Road, Yardley.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Bucks County Free Library branch.
New in Lower Makefield 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 $3.31 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lower Makefield Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $9.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $31M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $9.5M 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 138,935 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morrisville | Morrisville Free Library Association | 1.8 | 45 | C |
| Trenton | Trenton Free Public Library | 0.3 | 60 | D |
| Lower Makefield Township | Yardley Makefield Branch Library | — | 61 | C+ |
| Ewing Township | Ewing Branch Library | — | 42 | C |
| Yardley | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Newtown Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Upper Makefield Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Falls Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Middletown Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Woodbourne | 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. Yardley Makefield Branch Library is one branch of Bucks County Free Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 507,641 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 Makefield Township
Does Lower Makefield Township have a public library?
Yes: Yardley Makefield Branch Library, 1080 Edgewood Road, is a branch of Bucks County Free Library, which serves 507,641 people. The branch is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bucks County Free 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 Lower Makefield Township’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 4.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Lower Makefield Township’s civic life grade?
C+ Lower Makefield Township is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns on civic life, #440 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 Makefield 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.