Photo: Shuvaev · CC BY-SA 4.0Muhlenberg Township’s library logs 1.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Muhlenberg Community Library serves 30,026 people in and around Muhlenberg Township. Last year it lent 71K books, movies and e-books and logged 49K visits.
The short version on Muhlenberg Township’s library
Pennsylvania pays a big share
55% of the budget comes from the state, and 31% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Muhlenberg Community Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on six. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 17% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Muhlenberg Community Library spends $11 per resident, less than 95% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). 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; Muhlenberg Community Library serves 30,026 people in and around Muhlenberg Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Muhlenberg Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Muhlenberg Township is ahead of 5% of U.S. towns, #999 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Muhlenberg Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Muhlenberg Township’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Muhlenberg Community Library spends $11 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($66K–$110K) 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 →
48 community nonprofits are registered in Muhlenberg Township
2.2 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 (12 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.2%
4.2% of Muhlenberg 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 Muhlenberg Township’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Muhlenberg Community Library serves 30,026 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Muhlenberg Community Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
71K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
11,315 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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
Muhlenberg Community Library, 3612 Kutztown Rd, Laureldale.
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 Muhlenberg Community Library branch.
New in Muhlenberg 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 $3.83 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Muhlenberg Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $319K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $319K 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 5,074 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | Reading Public Library fine-free | 1.6 | 51 | D− |
| Muhlenberg Township | Muhlenberg Community Library fine-free | — | 44 | D |
| Bern Township | Schuylkill Valley Community Library fine-free | — | 43 | C+ |
| Riverview Park | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Hyde Park | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Alsace Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Fox Chase | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Greenfields | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Ontelaunee Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Ruscombmanor 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. Muhlenberg Community Library serves 30,026 people in and around Muhlenberg Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Muhlenberg Township.
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 Muhlenberg Township
Does Muhlenberg Township have a public library?
Yes. Muhlenberg Community Library, 3612 Kutztown Rd, serves 30,026 people in and around Muhlenberg Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Muhlenberg Community 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 Muhlenberg Township’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 2.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Muhlenberg Township’s civic life grade?
D Muhlenberg Township is ahead of 5% of U.S. towns on civic life, #999 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 Muhlenberg 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.