Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0Orwigsburg’s library logs 8.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Orwigsburg Area Free Public Library serves 6,278 people in and around Orwigsburg. Last year it lent 36K books, movies and e-books and logged 51K visits.
The short version on Orwigsburg’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
78% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 6%. What your card is worth ↓
Busy on a lean budget
Orwigsburg Area Free Public Library spends $25 per resident, less than 78% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). It’s still busier than 80% of them. What your card is worth ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
5,953 cards for 6,278 people, or 95%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Visits are the system’s strong suit
Orwigsburg Area Free Public Library logs 8.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 90% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 5.6 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 3% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 86% of similar-size libraries. 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; Orwigsburg Area Free Public Library serves 6,278 people in and around Orwigsburg, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Orwigsburg’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Orwigsburg is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns, #41 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Orwigsburg is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Orwigsburg’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
18 community nonprofits are registered in Orwigsburg
6.2 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.0%
9.0% of Orwigsburg’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 Orwigsburg’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Orwigsburg Area Free Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Orwigsburg Area Free Public Library serves 6,278 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
36K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,031 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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
Orwigsburg Area Free Public Library, 216 W. Independence St., Orwigsburg.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Orwigsburg Area Free Public Library branch.
New in Orwigsburg? 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 $3.54 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Orwigsburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $158K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $560K 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 5,953 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orwigsburg | Orwigsburg Area Free Public Library | — | 50 | A |
| West Brunswick Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| North Manheim Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
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. Orwigsburg Area Free Public Library serves 6,278 people in and around Orwigsburg, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Orwigsburg.
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 Orwigsburg
Does Orwigsburg have a public library?
Yes. Orwigsburg Area Free Public Library, 216 W. Independence St., serves 6,278 people in and around Orwigsburg (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Orwigsburg Area Free 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 Orwigsburg’s library?
It logged 8.2 visits and lent 5.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Orwigsburg’s civic life grade?
A Orwigsburg is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns on civic life, #41 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 Orwigsburg.
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.