Plains Township’s library logs 0.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Osterhout Free Library serves 120,502 people in and around Plains Township. Last year it lent 125K books, movies and e-books and logged 72K visits.
What Plains Township’s library is like
Osterhout Free Library is used less than most libraries its size
Osterhout Free Library records 0.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people. Borrowing is 0.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2. It also spends less than most: $21 per resident, against a typical $36. How it compares ↓
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
50% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 14%. What your card is worth ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
Osterhout Free Library keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Osterhout Free Library in Wilkes-Barre, next door, is open about 57 hours a week. The building ↓
Most programs are for young children
70% of the 801 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 8.8 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Osterhout Free Library serves more than Plains Township
The library’s service area covers 120,502 people in and around Plains Township, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
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 Plains Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Plains Township is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns, #1,016 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Plains Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Osterhout Free Library spends $21 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($55K–$92K) 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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Plains Township
1.0 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.9%
4.9% of Plains 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 Plains Township’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Osterhout Free Library serves 120,502 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
125K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 196K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
23,401 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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.
Find it
Plains Township Branch Library, 126 North Main Street, Plains.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Plains Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Plains Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $2.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.6M 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 44,985 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plains Township | Plains Township Branch Library | 1.0 | 20 | D− |
| Wilkes-Barre | Osterhout Free Library | 1.0 | 57 | C− |
| Kingston | Hoyt Library | — | 42 | C− |
| Wyoming | Wyoming Free Library | — | 43 | B |
| Jenkins Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Forty Fort | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Bear Creek 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.
- 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 Plains Township
Does Plains Township have a public library?
Yes. Osterhout Free Library, 126 North Main Street, serves 120,502 people in and around Plains Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Osterhout Free 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 Plains Township’s library?
It logged 0.6 visits and lent 1.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Plains Township’s civic life grade?
D− Plains Township is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns on civic life, #1,016 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 Plains 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.