Photo: Lee Paxton · CC BY-SA 4.0Penn Hills’ library runs 31 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Penn Hills Library serves 41,059 people in and around Penn Hills. Last year it lent 290K books, movies and e-books and logged 87K visits.
What stands out about Penn Hills’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Penn Hills’ civic life grade
Penn Hills isn’t graded on civic life: its library’s visits weren’t reported for 2024 and the volunteering estimate doesn’t cover enough of 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 →
About 11 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Penn Hills Library serves 41,059 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 109 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
290K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 98K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.3 times last year, on average.
59,134 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Penn Hills Library, 1037 Stotler Road, Pittsburgh.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Penn Hills? 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 $4.45 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Penn Hills cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M 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 14,076 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Penn Hills ranks 2nd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh | Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh fine-free | 9.6 | 62 | A− |
| Penn Hills | Penn Hills Library fine-free | 7.1 | 51 | — too few inputs |
| Wilkinsburg | Wilkinsburg Public Library fine-free | 6.6 | 47 | C+ |
| Plum | Plum Borough Community Library fine-free | 5.9 | 51 | D |
| Monroeville | Monroeville Public Library fine-free | — | 60 | B |
| Oakmont | Oakmont Carnegie Library fine-free | — | 45 | B+ |
| Verona | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Churchill | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Blawnox | None of its own | — | — | A |
| O'Hara Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Wilkins 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.
- 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 Penn Hills
Does Penn Hills have a public library?
Yes. Penn Hills Library, 1037 Stotler Road, serves 41,059 people in and around Penn Hills (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Penn Hills 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 Penn Hills’ library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 7.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Penn Hills’ civic life grade?
Penn Hills isn’t graded on civic life: its library’s visits weren’t reported for 2024 and the volunteering estimate doesn’t cover enough of it. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Penn Hills.
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.