Photo: User:Smallbones. · Public domainProspect Park’s library runs 46 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Prospect Park Free Library serves Prospect Park’s 6,427 residents. Last year it lent 15K books, movies and e-books and logged 10K visits.
The short version on Prospect Park’s library
Every town next door borrows more
Prospect Park’s library lends 2.4 items per resident. Each of the five neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Tinicum Township at 6. Libraries next door ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Prospect Park Free Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Three of the five libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
29% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 45%. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
Prospect Park Free Library spends $10 per resident, less than 95% 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.
What’s behind Prospect Park’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Prospect Park is ahead of 16% of U.S. towns, #886 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Prospect Park Free Library spends $10 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($47K–$79K) 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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in Prospect Park
2.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.6%
6.6% of Prospect Park’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 Prospect Park’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Prospect Park Free Library serves 6,427 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
15K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
4,771 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Prospect Park last year.
Find it
Prospect Park Free Library, 720 Maryland Ave, Prospect Park.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Prospect Park? 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 $4.30 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Prospect Park cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $65K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $278K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $65K 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 1,792 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Prospect Park ranks 6th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tinicum Township | Tinicum Memorial Public Library | 6.0 | 43 | C |
| Ridley Township | Ridley Township Public Library fine-free | 5.6 | 48 | C− |
| Folsom | Ridley Township Public Library fine-free | 5.6 | 48 | — graded as part of its town |
| Norwood | Norwood Public Library | 4.7 | 41 | C− |
| Ridley Park | Ridley Park Public Library fine-free | 4.1 | 44 | C− |
| Prospect Park | Prospect Park Free Library | 2.4 | 33 | 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.
- 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 Prospect Park
Does Prospect Park have a public library?
Yes. Prospect Park Free Library, 720 Maryland Ave, serves Prospect Park’s 6,427 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Prospect Park 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 Prospect Park’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 2.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Prospect Park’s civic life grade?
C− Prospect Park is ahead of 16% of U.S. towns on civic life, #886 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 Prospect Park.
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.