Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0Lower Moreland Township’s library lends 13 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Huntingdon Valley Library serves Lower Moreland Township’s 13,917 residents. Last year it lent 192K books, movies and e-books and logged 115K visits.
The short version on Lower Moreland Township’s library
Lower Moreland Township uses its library more than almost any town its size
Huntingdon Valley Library logs 8.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 13 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 94% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 52% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 27 items per child in Lower Moreland Township last year. Kids & programs ↓
Top 10% in Pennsylvania for library use
Lower Moreland Township ranks #10 of 108 Pennsylvania towns with a library of their own for visits per resident. That’s 8.3 visits per resident, more than at 94% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
63% of the 554 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 115 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 8% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 49% of similar-size libraries. The print collection works hard: each item went out about 2.9 times last year. What people borrow ↓
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.
What’s behind Lower Moreland Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Lower Moreland Township is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns, #214 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Library visits hold 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 →
49 community nonprofits are registered in Lower Moreland Township
3.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (14 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.8%
6.8% of Lower Moreland 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 Moreland Township’s residents live; 2022.
About 2 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Lower Moreland Township last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Huntingdon Valley Library serves 13,917 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 63 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
192K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 61K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.9 times last year, on average.
15,708 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Huntingdon Valley Library, 625 Red Lion Rd, Huntingdon Valley.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Lower Moreland 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 $4.54 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lower Moreland Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $642K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $642K 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 6,039 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Moreland Township | Huntingdon Valley Library fine-free | 13.8 | 59 | B |
| Upper Moreland Township | Upper Moreland Free Public Library fine-free | 7.8 | 54 | C− |
| Philadelphia | Free Library of Philadelphia fine-free | — | 49 | D |
| Abington Township | Abington Township Public Library fine-free | — | 61 | B+ |
| Bryn Athyn | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Moreland Township
Does Lower Moreland Township have a public library?
Yes. Huntingdon Valley Library, 625 Red Lion Rd, serves Lower Moreland Township’s 13,917 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 59 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Huntingdon Valley 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 Moreland Township’s library?
It logged 8.3 visits and lent 13.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Lower Moreland Township’s civic life grade?
B Lower Moreland Township is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns on civic life, #214 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 Moreland 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.