Photo: Lee Paxton · CC BY-SA 4.0North Fayette Township’s library is a branch of Western Allegheny Community Library, which lends more per resident than 76% of systems its size
North Fayette Township’s library is the Western Allegheny Comm Library, a branch of Western Allegheny Community Library, which serves 24,014 people and lent 227K items last year.
The short version on North Fayette Township’s library
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 2.8 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 86% of similar-size libraries. It’s 30% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Most programs are for young children
66% of the 713 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 7 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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; North Fayette Township’s library is a branch of Western Allegheny Community Library, so they cover the whole system (24,014 people), not just the North Fayette Township branch.
What’s behind North Fayette Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, North Fayette Township is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns, #563 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. North Fayette Township is graded on two of the three inputs. North Fayette Township’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 ($77K–$128K) 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 →
68 community nonprofits are registered in North Fayette Township
4.2 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 (7 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.
5.9%
5.9% of North Fayette 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 North Fayette Township’s residents live; 2022.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
227K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
68,300 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Western Allegheny Community Library serves 24,014 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 77 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Western Allegheny Community Library system. The library’s own count.
About 9 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
Western Allegheny Comm Library, 181 Bateman Road, Oakdale.
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 Western Allegheny Community Library branch.
New in North Fayette 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 $5.29 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average North Fayette Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $653K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $653K 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 13,756 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moon Township | Moon Township Public Library | 10.9 | 53 | C− |
| South Fayette Township | South Fayette Twp Library fine-free | 7.4 | 48 | C+ |
| North Fayette Township | Western Allegheny Comm Library fine-free | — | 58 | C |
| Robinson Township | Robinson Township Library fine-free | — | 53 | C− |
| McDonald | Heritage Public Library fine-free | — | 32 | C+ |
| Findlay Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Oakdale | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Collier Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Noblestown | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Enlow | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Sturgeon | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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. Western Allegheny Comm Library is one branch of Western Allegheny Community Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 24,014 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 North Fayette Township
Does North Fayette Township have a public library?
Yes: Western Allegheny Comm Library, 181 Bateman Road, is a branch of Western Allegheny Community Library, which serves 24,014 people. The branch is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Western Allegheny Community 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 North Fayette Township’s library?
It logged 3.1 visits and lent 9.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is North Fayette Township’s civic life grade?
C North Fayette Township is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns on civic life, #563 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 North Fayette 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.