Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0Punxsutawney’s library lends 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Punxsutawney Memorial Library serves 15,490 people in and around Punxsutawney. Last year it lent 23K books, movies and e-books and logged 25K visits.
Punxsutawney’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Punxsutawney Memorial Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on five. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
35% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 35%. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
Punxsutawney Memorial Library spends $13 per resident, less than 92% 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; Punxsutawney Memorial Library serves 15,490 people in and around Punxsutawney, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Punxsutawney’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Punxsutawney is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns, #94 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Punxsutawney is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
26 community nonprofits are registered in Punxsutawney
4.5 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.2%
9.2% of Punxsutawney’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 Punxsutawney’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Punxsutawney Memorial Library serves 15,490 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Punxsutawney Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
23K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
5,037 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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
Punxsutawney Memorial Library, 301 East Mahoning St., Suite 4, Punxsutawney.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Punxsutawney Memorial Library branch.
New in Punxsutawney? 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 $1.91 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Punxsutawney cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $196K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $375K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $196K 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 5,000 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Punxsutawney | Punxsutawney Memorial Library fine-free | — | 43 | A− |
| Young Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Bell Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
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. Punxsutawney Memorial Library serves 15,490 people in and around Punxsutawney, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Punxsutawney.
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 Punxsutawney
Does Punxsutawney have a public library?
Yes. Punxsutawney Memorial Library, 301 East Mahoning St., Suite 4, serves 15,490 people in and around Punxsutawney (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Punxsutawney Memorial 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 Punxsutawney’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 1.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Punxsutawney’s civic life grade?
A− Punxsutawney is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns on civic life, #94 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 Punxsutawney.
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.