Middletown Township’s library runs 91 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Middletown Free Library serves Middletown Township’s 16,373 residents. Last year it lent 100K books, movies and e-books and logged 64K visits.
What Middletown Township’s library is like
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Middletown Free Library ran 1,487 programs last year, about 29 a week. That’s 91 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. People show up: 22,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
36% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 53%. 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.
What’s behind Middletown Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Middletown Township is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns, #112 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Middletown Township’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 →
100 community nonprofits are registered in Middletown Township
5.9 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 (10 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.
8.1%
8.1% of Middletown 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 Middletown Township’s residents live; 2022.
About 9 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 Middletown Township last year.
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.
Middletown Free Library serves 16,373 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 36 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
100K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 48K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 time last year, on average.
28,137 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Middletown Free Library, 464 S Old Middletown Rd Suite 3, Lima.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Middletown 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 $3.19 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Middletown Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $523K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $523K 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 7,626 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Middletown Township ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aston Township | Aston Public Library | 7.5 | 51 | B |
| Village Green-Green Ridge | Aston Public Library | 7.5 | 51 | — graded as part of its town |
| Middletown Township | Middletown Free Library | 6.1 | 53 | B+ |
| Upper Providence Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Chester Heights | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Thornbury Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Rose Valley | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Brookhaven | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Edgmont 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Middletown Free Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Middletown Township
Does Middletown Township have a public library?
Yes. Middletown Free Library, 464 S Old Middletown Rd Suite 3, serves Middletown Township’s 16,373 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Middletown Free 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 Middletown Township’s library?
It logged 3.9 visits and lent 6.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Middletown Township’s civic life grade?
B+ Middletown Township is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns on civic life, #112 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 Middletown 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.