Photo: Shuvaev · CC BY-SA 3.0Nazareth’s library runs 19 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Memorial Library of Nazareth & Vicinity serves 29,584 people in and around Nazareth. Last year it lent 128K books, movies and e-books and logged 59K visits.
The short version on Nazareth’s library
Most programs are for young children
70% of the 562 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 5.3 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 8% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 84% 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; Memorial Library of Nazareth & Vicinity serves 29,584 people in and around Nazareth, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Nazareth’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Nazareth is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns, #497 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Nazareth is graded on two of the three inputs. Nazareth’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 ($43K–$71K) 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 →
24 community nonprofits are registered in Nazareth
3.9 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.6%
6.6% of Nazareth’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 Nazareth’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Memorial Library of Nazareth & Vicinity serves 29,584 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 50 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Memorial Library of Nazareth & Vicinity system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
128K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
10,750 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 8 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
Memorial Library of Nazareth & Vicinity, 295 E Center St., Nazareth.
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 Memorial Library of Nazareth & Vicinity branch.
New in Nazareth? 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 $2.87 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Nazareth cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $675K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $675K 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 10,237 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nazareth | Memorial Library of Nazareth & Vicinity fine-free | — | 49 | C+ |
| Upper Nazareth Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Eastlawn Gardens | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Lower Nazareth 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. Memorial Library of Nazareth & Vicinity serves 29,584 people in and around Nazareth, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Nazareth.
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 Nazareth
Does Nazareth have a public library?
Yes. Memorial Library of Nazareth & Vicinity, 295 E Center St., serves 29,584 people in and around Nazareth (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Memorial Library of Nazareth & Vicinity 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 Nazareth’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 4.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Nazareth’s civic life grade?
C+ Nazareth is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns on civic life, #497 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 Nazareth.
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.