Thomas Leiper Estate · Photo: Smallbones · CC0Nether Providence Township’s library lends 5.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Helen Kate Furness Free Library serves Nether Providence Township’s 15,542 residents. Last year it lent 124K books, movies and e-books and logged 39K visits.
What’s behind Nether Providence Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Nether Providence Township is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns, #256 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
65 community nonprofits are registered in Nether Providence Township
4.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.1%
9.1% of Nether Providence 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 Nether Providence Township’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Helen Kate Furness Free Library serves 15,542 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 49 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
124K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 36K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.4 times last year, on average.
39,557 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, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Nether Providence Township last year.
Find it
Helen Kate Furness Free Library, 100 North Providence Rd, Wallingford.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Nether Providence 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 $3.59 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Nether Providence Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $514K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $514K 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 5,602 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Nether Providence Township ranks 3rd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swarthmore | Swarthmore Public Library | 15.6 | 49 | A |
| Marple Township | Marple Public Library | 11.8 | 59 | C+ |
| Nether Providence Township | Helen Kate Furness Free Library | 8.0 | 48 | B |
| Springfield Township | Springfield Township Library fine-free | 7.1 | 56 | B |
| Ridley Township | Ridley Township Public Library fine-free | 5.6 | 48 | C− |
| Chester | J Lewis Crozer Library | 0.4 | 45 | D |
| Media | Media Upper Providence Free Library fine-free | — | 52 | A− |
| Rose Valley | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Brookhaven | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Woodlyn | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Upper Providence Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Nether Providence Township
Does Nether Providence Township have a public library?
Yes. Helen Kate Furness Free Library, 100 North Providence Rd, serves Nether Providence Township’s 15,542 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Helen Kate Furness Free 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 Nether Providence Township’s library?
It logged 2.5 visits and lent 8.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Nether Providence Township’s civic life grade?
B Nether Providence Township is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns on civic life, #256 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 Nether Providence 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.