Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0New Kensington’s library runs 18 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Peoples Library serves 40,970 people in and around New Kensington. Last year it lent 43K books, movies and e-books and logged 36K visits.
The short version on New Kensington’s library
Peoples Library is used less than most libraries its size
Peoples Library records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 0.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $8 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
47% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 27%. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
76% of the 749 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 10 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 8% 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
Peoples Library spends $8 per resident, less than 97% 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; Peoples Library serves 40,970 people in and around New Kensington, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind New Kensington’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, New Kensington is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns, #815 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. New Kensington is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; New Kensington’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Peoples Library spends $8 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($37K–$61K) 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 →
41 community nonprofits are registered in New Kensington
3.4 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.
5.1%
5.1% of New Kensington’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 Kensington’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Peoples Library serves 40,970 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Peoples Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
43K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
8,043 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 11 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
Peoples Library, 880 Barnes St., New Kensington.
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 Peoples Library branch.
New in New Kensington? 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 $2.07 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average New Kensington cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $334K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $691K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $334K 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 3,326 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 Kensington | Peoples Library fine-free | — | 43 | C− |
| Lower Burrell | Lower Burrell Branch Library fine-free | — | 31 | C− |
| Arnold | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| East Deer Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Tarentum | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Springdale Township | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
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. Peoples Library serves 40,970 people in and around New Kensington, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just New Kensington.
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 Kensington
Does New Kensington have a public library?
Yes. Peoples Library, 880 Barnes St., serves 40,970 people in and around New Kensington (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Peoples 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 New Kensington’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 1.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is New Kensington’s civic life grade?
C− New Kensington is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns on civic life, #815 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 Kensington.
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.