McCandless Township’s library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Northland Public Library Authority serves 90,007 people in and around McCandless Township. Last year it lent 1.4M books, movies and e-books and logged 232K visits.
The short version on McCandless Township’s library
A system of heavy borrowers
Northland Public Library Authority lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 92% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 50% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.6 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. It’s 24% of all loans. 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; Northland Public Library Authority serves 90,007 people in and around McCandless Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind McCandless Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, McCandless Township is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns, #391 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. McCandless Township is graded on two of the three inputs. McCandless Township’s count of community nonprofits holds 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 →
131 community nonprofits are registered in McCandless Township
4.5 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 (19 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.5%
6.5% of McCandless 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 McCandless Township’s residents live; 2022.
About 9 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Northland Public Library Authority serves 90,007 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 421 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Northland Public Library Authority system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1.4M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
327,531 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Northland Public Library Authority, 300 Cumberland Rd, Pittsburgh.
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 Northland Public Library Authority branch.
New in McCandless 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 $6.80 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average McCandless Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3M 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 35,841 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hampton Township | Hampton Community Library | 8.8 | 44 | C |
| McCandless Township | Northland Public Library Authority fine-free | — | 62 | B− |
| Ross Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Franklin Park | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Pine Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
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. Northland Public Library Authority serves 90,007 people in and around McCandless Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just McCandless Township.
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 McCandless Township
Does McCandless Township have a public library?
Yes. Northland Public Library Authority, 300 Cumberland Rd, serves 90,007 people in and around McCandless Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Northland Public Library Authority 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 McCandless Township’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 15.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is McCandless Township’s civic life grade?
B− McCandless Township is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns on civic life, #391 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 McCandless 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.