Preston Township’s library lends 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Northern Wayne Community Library serves 2,158 people in and around Preston Township. Last year it lent 3,510 books, movies and e-books and logged 4,517 visits.
What stands out about Northern Wayne Community Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Preston Township’s civic life grade
Preston Township isn’t graded on civic life: its library is a branch of Northern Wayne Community Library, so there is no town figure for visits 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 →
5 community nonprofits are registered in Preston Township
5.8 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Northern Wayne Community Library serves 2,158 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Northern Wayne Community Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
3,510 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
877 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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
Northern Wayne Community Library, 11 Library Road, Lakewood.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Northern Wayne Community Library branch.
New in Preston Township? 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 $1.01 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Preston Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $82K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $83K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $82K 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 593 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Pleasant Township | Pleasant Mount Public Library fine-free | 5.8 | 32 | A− |
| Preston Township | Northern Wayne Community Library fine-free | — | 36 | — too few inputs |
| Buckingham Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Scott Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Starrucca | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Thompson 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.
- System-wide. Northern Wayne Community Library serves 2,158 people in and around Preston Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Preston Township.
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 Preston Township
Does Preston Township have a public library?
Yes. Northern Wayne Community Library, 11 Library Road, serves 2,158 people in and around Preston Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Northern Wayne Community 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 Preston Township’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 1.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Preston Township’s civic life grade?
Preston Township isn’t graded on civic life: its library is a branch of Northern Wayne Community Library, so there is no town figure for visits and the volunteering estimate doesn’t cover enough of it. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Preston 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.