Photo: Paul Sableman on Flickr · CC BY 2.0Norwood’s library runs 44 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Norwood Public Library serves Norwood’s 5,943 residents. Last year it lent 28K books, movies and e-books and logged 18K visits.
What stands out about Norwood’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Norwood’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Norwood is ahead of 21% of U.S. towns, #800 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Norwood Public Library spends $27 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($72K–$120K) 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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in Norwood
2.9 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.1%
5.1% of Norwood’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 Norwood’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Norwood Public Library serves 5,943 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
28K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 15K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 times last year, on average.
4,517 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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 Norwood last year.
Find it
Norwood Public Library, 513 Welcome Ave, Norwood.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Norwood? 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 $3.01 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Norwood cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $158K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $474K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $158K 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 1,549 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Norwood ranks 2nd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tinicum Township | Tinicum Memorial Public Library | 6.0 | 43 | C |
| Norwood | Norwood Public Library | 4.7 | 41 | C− |
| Prospect Park | Prospect Park Free Library | 2.4 | 33 | C− |
| Folcroft | Folcroft Public Library | 1.5 | 45 | D |
| Glenolden | Glenolden Library | — | 33 | 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.
- 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 Norwood
Does Norwood have a public library?
Yes. Norwood Public Library, 513 Welcome Ave, serves Norwood’s 5,943 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Norwood 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 Norwood’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 4.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Norwood’s civic life grade?
C− Norwood is ahead of 21% of U.S. towns on civic life, #800 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 Norwood.
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.