Photo: Shuvaev · CC BY-SA 3.0Palmer Township’s library is a branch of Easton Area Public Library, which lends less per resident than 67% of systems its size
Palmer Township’s library is the Palmer Library, a branch of Easton Area Public Library, which serves 69,439 people and lent 201K items last year.
The short version on Palmer Township’s library
Few residents carry a card
Only 15% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
67% of the 1,049 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 9 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; Palmer Township’s library is a branch of Easton Area Public Library, so they cover the whole system (69,439 people), not just the Palmer Township branch.
What’s behind Palmer Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Palmer Township is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns, #950 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Palmer Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Palmer Township’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($87K–$145K) 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 →
57 community nonprofits are registered in Palmer Township
2.5 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 (13 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.1%
5.1% of Palmer 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 Palmer Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Easton Area Public Library serves 69,439 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 35 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Easton Area Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
201K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
33,056 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 14 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
Palmer Library, 1 Weller Place, Easton.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Easton Area Public Library branch.
New in Palmer 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 $1.38 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Palmer Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.3M 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 10,613 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palmer Township | Palmer Library fine-free | — | 51 | D |
| Easton | Easton Area Public Library fine-free | — | 61 | C+ |
| Wilson | Mary Meuser Memorial Library fine-free | — | 44 | D− |
| Forks Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Stockertown | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Tatamy | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Old Orchard | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Lower Nazareth Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Bethlehem Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Upper Nazareth Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Eastlawn Gardens | 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. Palmer Library is one branch of Easton Area Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 69,439 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 Palmer Township
Does Palmer Township have a public library?
Yes: Palmer Library, 1 Weller Place, is a branch of Easton Area Public Library, which serves 69,439 people. The branch is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Easton Area Public 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 Palmer Township’s library?
It logged 2.5 visits and lent 2.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Palmer Township’s civic life grade?
D Palmer Township is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns on civic life, #950 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 Palmer 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.