Second National Bank of Meyersdale · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainMeyersdale’s library logs 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Meyersdale Public Library serves 18,387 people in and around Meyersdale. Last year it lent 17K books, movies and e-books and logged 14K visits.
What Meyersdale’s library is like
Meyersdale Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Meyersdale Public Library records 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 0.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $10 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
57% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 12%. What your card is worth ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Meyersdale Public Library offered 121 programs last year, 6.6 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 8% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Meyersdale Public Library spends $10 per resident, less than 96% 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; Meyersdale Public Library serves 18,387 people in and around Meyersdale, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Meyersdale’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Meyersdale is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns. Meyersdale is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Meyersdale’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Meyersdale
3.1 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.8%
10.8% of Meyersdale’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 Meyersdale’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.
Meyersdale Public Library serves 18,387 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Meyersdale Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
17K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,716 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
Meyersdale Public Library, 210 Center, Meyersdale.
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 Meyersdale Public Library branch.
New in Meyersdale? 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 $1.49 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Meyersdale cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $183K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $273K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $183K 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 1,468 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Meyersdale Public Library serves 18,387 people in and around Meyersdale, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Meyersdale.
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 Meyersdale
Does Meyersdale have a public library?
Yes. Meyersdale Public Library, 210 Center, serves 18,387 people in and around Meyersdale (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Meyersdale Public 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 Meyersdale’s library?
It logged 0.8 visits and lent 0.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Meyersdale’s civic life grade?
B+ Meyersdale is ahead of 66% 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 Meyersdale.
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.