Photo: Dough4872 · CC BY-SA 4.0Media’s library logs 7.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Media Upper Providence Free Library serves 16,753 people in and around Media. Last year it lent 172K books, movies and e-books and logged 127K visits.
Media’s library, in brief
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
38% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 52%. What your card is worth ↓
Visits are the system’s strong suit
Media Upper Providence Free Library logs 7.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 92% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 7 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.3 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. It’s 32% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Most programs are for young children
74% of the 515 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 5.2 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 59% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 84% of similar-size libraries. 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; Media Upper Providence Free Library serves 16,753 people in and around Media, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Media’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Media is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns, #66 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Media is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Media’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
37 community nonprofits are registered in Media
6.3 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.2%
8.2% of Media’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 Media’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 64 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Media Upper Providence Free Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Media Upper Providence Free Library serves 16,753 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
172K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
55,500 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 7 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
Media Upper Providence Free Library, 1 East Front St., Media.
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 Media Upper Providence Free Library branch.
New in Media? 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 $4.41 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Media cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $601K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $601K 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 9,410 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nether Providence Township | Helen Kate Furness Free Library | 8.0 | 48 | B |
| Media | Media Upper Providence Free Library fine-free | — | 52 | A− |
| Upper Providence Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
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. Media Upper Providence Free Library serves 16,753 people in and around Media, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Media.
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 Media
Does Media have a public library?
Yes. Media Upper Providence Free Library, 1 East Front St., serves 16,753 people in and around Media (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Media Upper Providence Free 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 Media’s library?
It logged 7.6 visits and lent 10.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Media’s civic life grade?
A− Media is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns on civic life, #66 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 Media.
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.