Christiana Lindsey House · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainMercer’s library runs 13 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Mercer Area Library serves 10,520 people in and around Mercer. Last year it lent 28K books, movies and e-books and logged 21K visits.
Mercer’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
66% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 9%. What your card is worth ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Mercer Area Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on six. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Mercer Area Library spends $15 per resident, less than 90% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). 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; Mercer Area Library serves 10,520 people in and around Mercer, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Mercer’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Mercer is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns. Mercer is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
8 community nonprofits are registered in Mercer
4.2 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.6%
8.6% of Mercer’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 Mercer’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Mercer Area Library serves 10,520 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mercer Area Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
28K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
4,130 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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
Mercer Area Library, 110 E. Venango St., Mercer.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Mercer Area Library branch.
New in Mercer? 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 $2.95 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mercer cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $154K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $454K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $154K 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 4,180 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercer | Mercer Area Library | — | 45 | B+ |
| Coolspring Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| East Lackawannock Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Findley 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. Mercer Area Library serves 10,520 people in and around Mercer, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Mercer.
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 Mercer
Does Mercer have a public library?
Yes. Mercer Area Library, 110 E. Venango St., serves 10,520 people in and around Mercer (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mercer Area 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 Mercer’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 2.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Mercer’s civic life grade?
B+ Mercer is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Mercer.
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.