Photo: Shuvaev · CC BY-SA 4.0Port Carbon’s library logs 1.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Port Carbon Public Library serves Port Carbon’s 1,806 residents. Last year it logged 3,185 visits.
What Port Carbon’s library is like
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
68% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 12%. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Port Carbon Public Library serves 1,806 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 25 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 8% of the people Port Carbon Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Port Carbon’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Port Carbon is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Port Carbon’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Port Carbon Public Library spends $26 per resident, against a typical $54 for libraries its size, and its 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($46K–$76K) 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 →
5 community nonprofits are registered in Port Carbon
2.8 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.2%
4.2% of Port Carbon’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 Port Carbon’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 3 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Port Carbon Public Library serves 1,806 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Port Carbon Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Loans aren’t shown: this year’s report counted only 205 items borrowed against 3,185 visits, so we leave the count out.
Find it
Port Carbon Public Library, 111 Pike St., Port Carbon.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Port Carbon? 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 Port Carbon cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $46K.
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 139 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Port Carbon | Port Carbon Public Library | — | 25 | D |
| Palo Alto | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Mechanicsville | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| East Norwegian Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Port Carbon Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- Loans left out. This year’s loan count is far below the library’s visits and shelves, so we leave it out.
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 Port Carbon
Does Port Carbon have a public library?
Yes. Port Carbon Public Library, 111 Pike St., serves Port Carbon’s 1,806 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 25 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Port Carbon 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 Port Carbon’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Port Carbon’s civic life grade?
D Port Carbon is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Port Carbon.
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.