Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0Northampton Township’s library logs 4.2 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Free Library of Northampton Township serves Northampton Township’s 39,915 residents. Last year it lent 294K books, movies and e-books and logged 166K visits.
What’s behind Northampton Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Northampton Township is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns, #570 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($119K–$198K) 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 →
129 community nonprofits are registered in Northampton Township
3.2 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 (24 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.6%
5.6% of Northampton 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 Northampton Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Free Library of Northampton Township serves 39,915 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 119 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
294K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 92K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.4 times last year, on average.
76,256 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 8 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 Northampton Township last year.
Find it
Free Library of Northampton Township, 25 Upper Holland Road, Richboro.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Northampton 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 $3.98 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Northampton Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M 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 17,012 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Northampton Township ranks 2nd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wrightstown Township | Village Library of Wrightstown | 14.4 | 50 | B+ |
| Northampton Township | Free Library of Northampton Township | 7.4 | 48 | C |
| Richboro | Free Library of Northampton Township | 7.4 | 48 | — graded as part of its town |
| Upper Southampton Township | Southampton Free Library | 6.3 | 52 | C |
| Lower Southampton Township | Township Library of Lower Southampton | 5.4 | 49 | C− |
| Langhorne | Pennwood Branch Library | — | 57 | C+ |
| Newtown Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Middletown Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Warwick Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Churchville | 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.
- 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 Northampton Township
Does Northampton Township have a public library?
Yes. Free Library of Northampton Township, 25 Upper Holland Road, serves Northampton Township’s 39,915 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Free Library of Northampton Township 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 Northampton Township’s library?
It logged 4.2 visits and lent 7.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Northampton Township’s civic life grade?
C Northampton Township is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns on civic life, #570 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 Northampton 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.