Photo: Smallbones · CC BY-SA 3.0Lower Providence Township’s library runs 40 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Lower Providence Community Library serves Lower Providence Township’s 25,625 residents. Last year it lent 243K books, movies and e-books and logged 106K visits.
Lower Providence Township’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 58% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 23 items per child in Lower Providence Township last year. Kids & programs ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Lower Providence Community Library ran 1,029 programs last year, about 20 a week. That’s 40 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
The shelves work hard
Each of the 51,000 items on the shelves went out about 4.1 times last year, on average. What people borrow ↓
Programs lean toward adults
70% of the 1,029 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 274 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.
What’s behind Lower Providence Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Lower Providence Township is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns, #423 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 →
85 community nonprofits are registered in Lower Providence Township
3.3 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 (16 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.
6.9%
6.9% of Lower Providence 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 Providence Township’s residents live; 2022.
About 5 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 Providence Township last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Lower Providence Community Library serves 25,625 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 88 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
243K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 51K books and other items on the shelves went out about 4.1 times last year, on average.
33,130 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Lower Providence Community Library, 50 Parklane Dr, Eagleville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Lower Providence 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 $4.43 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lower Providence Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $819K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $819K 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 12,081 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 Providence Township | Lower Providence Community Library | 9.5 | 53 | C+ |
| Upper Merion Township | Upper Merion Township Library fine-free | 7.3 | 47 | C+ |
| Upper Providence Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Audubon | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Collegeville | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Schuylkill Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| West Norriton Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Skippack Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Oaks | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Worcester Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Evansburg | 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.
- 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 Providence Township
Does Lower Providence Township have a public library?
Yes. Lower Providence Community Library, 50 Parklane Dr, serves Lower Providence Township’s 25,625 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lower Providence Community 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 Providence Township’s library?
It logged 4.2 visits and lent 9.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Lower Providence Township’s civic life grade?
C+ Lower Providence Township is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns on civic life, #423 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 Providence 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.