Photo: Lee Paxton · CC BY-SA 4.0Munhall’s library logs 4.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Carnegie Library of Homestead serves 16,709 people in and around Munhall. Last year it lent 89K books, movies and e-books and logged 70K visits.
Munhall’s library, in brief
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
27% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 56%. What your card is worth ↓
44% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 44% of loans, more per resident than at 81% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 56%, much of it kids’ books. 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; Carnegie Library of Homestead serves 16,709 people in and around Munhall, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Munhall’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Munhall is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns, #219 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Munhall is graded on two of the three inputs. Munhall’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
63 community nonprofits are registered in Munhall
6.0 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 (13 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.
6.5%
6.5% of Munhall’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 Munhall’s residents live; 2022.
44% of borrowing is digital
89K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
39,006 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Carnegie Library of Homestead serves 16,709 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Carnegie Library of Homestead system. The library’s own count.
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
Carnegie Library of Homestead, 510 10th Ave, Munhall.
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 Carnegie Library of Homestead branch.
New in Munhall? 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 $2.39 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Munhall cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $591K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $591K 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 6,794 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh | Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh fine-free | 9.6 | 62 | A− |
| Munhall | Carnegie Library of Homestead fine-free | — | 56 | B |
| Swissvale | Carnegie Fr Lib of Swissvale fine-free | — | 47 | A− |
| West Mifflin | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| West Homestead | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Whitaker | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Homestead | 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. Carnegie Library of Homestead serves 16,709 people in and around Munhall, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Munhall.
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 Munhall
Does Munhall have a public library?
Yes. Carnegie Library of Homestead, 510 10th Ave, serves 16,709 people in and around Munhall (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Carnegie Library of Homestead 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 Munhall’s library?
It logged 4.2 visits and lent 5.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Munhall’s civic life grade?
B Munhall is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns on civic life, #219 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 Munhall.
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.