Photo: Dough4872 · CC BY-SA 4.0Pottstown’s library runs 18 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Pottstown Regional Public Library serves 45,318 people in and around Pottstown. Last year it lent 124K books, movies and e-books and logged 83K visits.
The short version on Pottstown’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
52% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 32%. What your card is worth ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 6% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 92% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; Pottstown Regional Public Library serves 45,318 people in and around Pottstown, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Pottstown’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Pottstown is ahead of 21% of U.S. towns, #791 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Pottstown is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Pottstown’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Pottstown Regional Public Library spends $21 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
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 →
83 community nonprofits are registered in Pottstown
3.6 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 (21 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.1%
5.1% of Pottstown’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 Pottstown’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.
Pottstown Regional Public Library serves 45,318 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 47 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Pottstown Regional Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
124K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
8,070 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 7 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
Pottstown Public Library, 500 East High Street, Pottstown.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Pottstown Regional Public Library branch.
New in Pottstown? 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 $2.23 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Pottstown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $929K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $929K 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 10,874 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pottstown | Pottstown Public Library | — | 51 | C− |
| West Pottsgrove Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| South Pottstown | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Lower Pottsgrove Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| North Coventry Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Stowe | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Pottsgrove | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Kenilworth | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Upper Pottsgrove 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.
- System-wide. Pottstown Regional Public Library serves 45,318 people in and around Pottstown, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Pottstown.
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 Pottstown
Does Pottstown have a public library?
Yes. Pottstown Regional Public Library, 500 East High Street, serves 45,318 people in and around Pottstown (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pottstown Regional 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 Pottstown’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 2.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Pottstown’s civic life grade?
C− Pottstown is ahead of 21% of U.S. towns on civic life, #791 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 Pottstown.
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.