Photo: Marshallstack380 · CC BY-SA 3.0Mountain Top’s library runs 38 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Marian Sutherland Kirby Library serves 18,510 people in and around Mountain Top. Last year it lent 55K books, movies and e-books and logged 77K visits.
The short version on Mountain Top’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
72% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 16%. What your card is worth ↓
Programs are almost all for children
88% of the 702 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 7.9 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 59% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 54% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 7% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 91% 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; Marian Sutherland Kirby Library serves 18,510 people in and around Mountain Top, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Mountain Top’s civic life grade
Mountain Top isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Marian Sutherland Kirby Library serves 18,510 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 25 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Marian Sutherland Kirby Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
55K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,632 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 12 kids’ programs 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
Marian Sutherland Kirby Library, 35 Kirby Avenue, Mountaintop.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Marian Sutherland Kirby Library branch.
New in Mountain Top? 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 $2.89 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mountain Top cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $332K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $960K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $332K 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 10,260 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mountain Top | Marian Sutherland Kirby Library | — | 42 | — graded as part of its town |
| Wright Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Rice Township | 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.
- System-wide. Marian Sutherland Kirby Library serves 18,510 people in and around Mountain Top, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Mountain Top.
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 Mountain Top
Does Mountain Top have a public library?
Yes. Marian Sutherland Kirby Library, 35 Kirby Avenue, serves 18,510 people in and around Mountain Top (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Marian Sutherland Kirby 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 Mountain Top’s library?
It logged 4.1 visits and lent 3.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Mountain Top’s civic life grade?
Mountain Top isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Mountain Top.
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.