Photo: Mlouns · CC BY-SA 3.0Monessen’s library lends 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Monessen Public Library serves Monessen’s 9,541 residents. Last year it lent 11K books, movies and e-books and logged 20K visits.
What Monessen’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, Monessen Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on six. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
43% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 30%. What your card is worth ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 13% of the people Monessen Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Monessen Public Library offered 83 programs last year, 8.7 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
70% of the 83 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 35 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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 Monessen’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Monessen is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns, #569 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Monessen is graded on two of the three inputs. Monessen’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($40K–$66K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
33 community nonprofits are registered in Monessen
4.9 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 (5 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.
4.8%
4.8% of Monessen’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 Monessen’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Monessen Public Library serves 9,541 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
11K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 48K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
1,898 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, 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 Monessen last year.
Find it
Monessen Public Library, 326 Donner Avenue, Monessen.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Monessen? 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 $1.12 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Monessen cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $164K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $183K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $164K 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 1,288 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rostraver Township | Rostraver Public Library fine-free | 2.5 | 42 | C |
| Monessen | Monessen Public Library fine-free | 1.1 | 39 | C |
| Carroll Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Fallowfield Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| North Charleroi | None of its own | — | — | C |
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Monessen
Does Monessen have a public library?
Yes. Monessen Public Library, 326 Donner Avenue, serves Monessen’s 9,541 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Monessen 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 Monessen’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 1.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Monessen’s civic life grade?
C Monessen is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns on civic life, #569 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 Monessen.
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.