Photo: Nyttend · Public domainProspect’s library lends 8.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Prospect Community Library serves 3,721 people in and around Prospect. Last year it lent 34K books, movies and e-books and logged 9,959 visits.
The short version on Prospect’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
50% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 28%. What your card is worth ↓
A system of heavy borrowers
Prospect Community Library lends 8.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 88% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 45% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 85% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 4% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 78% 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; Prospect Community Library serves 3,721 people in and around Prospect, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Prospect’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Prospect is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns. Prospect is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Prospect’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Prospect
6.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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.
7.7%
7.7% of Prospect’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’s residents live; 2022.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
34K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,281 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Prospect Community Library serves 3,721 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Prospect Community Library system. The library’s own count.
About 2 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
Prospect Community Library, 357 Main Street, Prospect.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Prospect Community Library branch.
New in Prospect? 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 $7.70 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Prospect cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $69K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $528K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $69K 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 1,320 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prospect | Prospect Community Library | — | 44 | B+ |
| Franklin 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. Prospect Community Library serves 3,721 people in and around Prospect, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Prospect.
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
Does Prospect have a public library?
Yes. Prospect Community Library, 357 Main Street, serves 3,721 people in and around Prospect (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Prospect Community 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’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 9.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Prospect’s civic life grade?
B+ Prospect is ahead of 74% 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 Prospect.
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.