Photo: Smallbones · Public domainNewtown Township’s library lends 9.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Newtown Public Library serves Newtown Township’s 15,002 residents. Last year it lent 174K books, movies and e-books and logged 64K visits.
Newtown Township’s library, in brief
Busy on a lean budget
Newtown Public Library spends $24 per resident, less than 78% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). It’s still borrowed from more than 79% of them. What your card is worth ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 61% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 24 items per child in Newtown Township last year. Kids & programs ↓
Newtown Township is a town of borrowers
Newtown Public Library lends 9.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 89% of similar-size libraries. Each item on the shelves went out about 2.8 times last year. What people borrow ↓
A place to get online
Newtown Public Library logs about 359 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 3 public computers. That’s 8.7 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
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 Newtown Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Newtown Township is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns, #245 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Newtown Township’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls 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 →
82 community nonprofits are registered in Newtown Township
5.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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.
6.2%
6.2% of Newtown 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 Newtown Township’s residents live; 2022.
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 Newtown Township last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Newtown Public Library serves 15,002 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 67 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
174K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 52K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.8 times last year, on average.
28,322 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Newtown Public Library, 201 Bishop Hollow Rd, Newtown Square.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Newtown 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 $8.12 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Newtown Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $362K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $362K 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 4,881 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Newtown Township ranks 3rd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Easttown Township | Easttown Library | 32.3 | 58 | A− |
| Marple Township | Marple Public Library | 11.8 | 59 | C+ |
| Newtown Township | Newtown Public Library fine-free | 11.6 | 50 | B |
| Radnor Township | Memorial Library of Radnor Township | 10.0 | 69 | B+ |
| Willistown Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Edgmont Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| 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 Newtown Township
Does Newtown Township have a public library?
Yes. Newtown Public Library, 201 Bishop Hollow Rd, serves Newtown Township’s 15,002 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Newtown Public 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 Newtown Township’s library?
It logged 4.2 visits and lent 11.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Newtown Township’s civic life grade?
B Newtown Township is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns on civic life, #245 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 Newtown 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.