Photo: Jeremy Burgin · CC BY 2.0New Oxford’s library is a branch of Adams County Library System, which lends more per resident than 50% of systems its size
New Oxford’s library is the New Oxford Area Library, a branch of Adams County Library System, which serves 103,852 people and lent 452K items last year.
The short version on New Oxford’s library
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
The Adams County Library System ran 2,485 programs last year, about 48 a week. That’s 24 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9. Kids & programs ↓
Pennsylvania pays a big share
30% of the budget comes from the state, and 50% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. 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; New Oxford’s library is a branch of Adams County Library System, so they cover the whole system (103,852 people), not just the New Oxford branch.
What’s behind New Oxford’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, New Oxford is ahead of 31% of U.S. towns. New Oxford is graded on two of the three inputs. New Oxford’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 ($47K–$79K) 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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in New Oxford
4.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.7%
5.7% of New Oxford’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 Oxford’s residents live; 2022.
About 27 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Adams County Library System serves 103,852 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 34 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Adams County Library System system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
452K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
126,128 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
New Oxford Area Library, 124 N Peter Street, New Oxford.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Adams County Library System branch.
New in New Oxford? 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 $2.69 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average New Oxford cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $2.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $7.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.7M 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 33,391 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. New Oxford Area Library is one branch of Adams County Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 103,852 people it serves.
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 Oxford
Does New Oxford have a public library?
Yes: New Oxford Area Library, 124 N Peter Street, is a branch of Adams County Library System, which serves 103,852 people. The branch is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Adams County Library System 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 Oxford’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 4.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is New Oxford’s civic life grade?
C New Oxford is ahead of 31% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Oxford.
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.