Photo: Penndyl · CC BY-SA 4.0New Cumberland’s library logs 16 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
New Cumberland Public Library serves New Cumberland’s 7,507 residents. Last year it lent 179K books, movies and e-books and logged 124K visits.
New Cumberland’s library, in brief
New Cumberland has the most-used library in Pennsylvania
Out of 108 Pennsylvania towns with a library of their own, New Cumberland comes first for visits per resident. It’s also #1 for kids’ borrowing and #2 for borrowing. How it compares ↓
New Cumberland uses its library more than almost any town its size
New Cumberland Public Library logs 16 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 21 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 99% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
More library cards than residents
7,983 cards for 7,507 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 51% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 56 items per child in New Cumberland last year. Kids & programs ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
39% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 43%. 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.
What’s behind New Cumberland’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, New Cumberland is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns, #56 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Library visits hold the grade up; New Cumberland’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
New Cumberland Public Library logged 16.5 visits per resident in FY2024, #54 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare. The survey counts every visit, residents or not, and libraries don’t report how many come from out of town.
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 →
28 community nonprofits are registered in New Cumberland
3.6 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 (6 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.
9.2%
9.2% of New Cumberland’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 New Cumberland’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 68 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
New Cumberland Public Library serves 7,507 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
179K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 50K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.2 times last year, on average.
18,753 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 10 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 New Cumberland last year.
Find it
New Cumberland Public Library, 1 Benjamin Plaza, New Cumberland.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in New Cumberland? 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 $5.54 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average New Cumberland cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $498K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $498K 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 7,983 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Cumberland | New Cumberland Public Library | 23.9 | 54 | A− |
| Harrisburg | Mccormick Riverfront Library fine-free | — | 45 | B |
| Lower Allen Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Fairview Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| New Market | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Swatara Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Lemoyne | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
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.
- Visits count everyone. New Cumberland’s 123,546 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
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 New Cumberland
Does New Cumberland have a public library?
Yes. New Cumberland Public Library, 1 Benjamin Plaza, serves New Cumberland’s 7,507 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is New Cumberland Public 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 New Cumberland’s library?
It logged 16.5 visits and lent 23.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is New Cumberland’s civic life grade?
A− New Cumberland is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns on civic life, #56 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 New Cumberland.
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.