Photo: Jakec · CC BY-SA 4.0Mount Carmel’s library runs 6.2 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Mount Carmel Area Public Library serves 11,548 people in and around Mount Carmel. Last year it lent 25K books, movies and e-books and logged 17K visits.
Mount Carmel’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
54% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 4%. What your card is worth ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Mount Carmel Area Public Library offered 72 programs last year, 6.2 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Mount Carmel Area Public Library spends $9 per resident, less than 97% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 0% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 97% 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; Mount Carmel Area Public Library serves 11,548 people in and around Mount Carmel, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Mount Carmel’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Mount Carmel is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns, #555 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Mount Carmel is graded on two of the three inputs. Mount Carmel’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 →
23 community nonprofits are registered in Mount Carmel
4.1 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.1%
6.1% of Mount Carmel’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 Mount Carmel’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Mount Carmel Area Public Library serves 11,548 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 Mount Carmel Area Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
25K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
12 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
72 programs a year
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
Mount Carmel Area Public Library, 30 South Oak St., Mount Carmel.
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 Mount Carmel Area Public Library branch.
New in Mount Carmel? 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 $4.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mount Carmel cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $102K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $413K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $102K 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 8,601 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Mount Carmel Area Public Library serves 11,548 people in and around Mount Carmel, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Mount Carmel.
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 Mount Carmel
Does Mount Carmel have a public library?
Yes. Mount Carmel Area Public Library, 30 South Oak St., serves 11,548 people in and around Mount Carmel (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mount Carmel Area 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 Mount Carmel’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 2.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Mount Carmel’s civic life grade?
C+ Mount Carmel is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns on civic life, #555 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 Mount Carmel.
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.