Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0Plymouth’s library lends 0.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Plymouth Public Library serves 9,988 people in and around Plymouth. Last year it lent 9,237 books, movies and e-books and logged 10K visits.
The short version on Plymouth’s library
Plymouth Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Plymouth Public Library records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $14 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
89% of the 182 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.7 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
38% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 36%. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
Plymouth Public Library spends $14 per resident, less than 92% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
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; Plymouth Public Library serves 9,988 people in and around Plymouth, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Plymouth’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Plymouth is ahead of 17% of U.S. towns, #872 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Plymouth is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Plymouth’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Plymouth Public Library spends $14 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($29K–$49K) 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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Plymouth
2.7 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.9%
5.9% of Plymouth’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 Plymouth’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Plymouth Public Library serves 9,988 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Plymouth Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
9,237 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,077 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, 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
Plymouth Public Library, 107 West Main St., Plymouth.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Plymouth Public Library branch.
New in Plymouth? 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 $1.21 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Plymouth cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $144K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $174K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $144K 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 4,603 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plymouth | Plymouth Public Library | — | 45 | C− |
| Plymouth Township | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Larksville | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Hanover 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. Plymouth Public Library serves 9,988 people in and around Plymouth, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Plymouth.
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 Plymouth
Does Plymouth have a public library?
Yes. Plymouth Public Library, 107 West Main St., serves 9,988 people in and around Plymouth (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Plymouth 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 Plymouth’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 0.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Plymouth’s civic life grade?
C− Plymouth is ahead of 17% of U.S. towns on civic life, #872 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 Plymouth.
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.