Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 4.0Northern Cambria’s library lends 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Northern Cambria Public Library serves Northern Cambria’s 3,560 residents. Last year it lent 8,134 books, movies and e-books and logged 5,040 visits.
The short version on Northern Cambria’s library
Northern Cambria Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Northern Cambria Public Library records 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $26 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
39% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 32%. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
75% of the 63 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 39 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
46% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 46% of loans. Print still makes up 54%. What people borrow ↓
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 Northern Cambria’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Northern Cambria is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns, #651 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Northern Cambria’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($41K–$68K) 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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Northern Cambria
5.5 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.6%
5.6% of Northern Cambria’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 Northern Cambria’s residents live; 2022.
46% of borrowing is digital
8,134 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
3,716 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 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Northern Cambria Public Library serves 3,560 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
63 programs a year
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 Northern Cambria last year.
Find it
Northern Cambria Public Library, 4200 Crawford Avenue, Northern Cambria.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Northern Cambria? 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 $1.43 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Northern Cambria cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $92K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $132K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $92K 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 954 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Cambria | Northern Cambria Public Library | 2.3 | 45 | C |
| Susquehanna Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Barr Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Northern Cambria Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Northern Cambria
Does Northern Cambria have a public library?
Yes. Northern Cambria Public Library, 4200 Crawford Avenue, serves Northern Cambria’s 3,560 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Northern Cambria Public Library 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 Northern Cambria’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 2.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Northern Cambria’s civic life grade?
C Northern Cambria is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns on civic life, #651 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 Northern Cambria.
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.