Photo: Andrew Shansby from Hyattsville, United States · CC BY 2.0Ralpho Township’s library logs 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Ralpho Township Public Library serves Ralpho Township’s 4,186 residents. Last year it lent 8,791 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,900 visits.
What Ralpho Township’s library is like
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
89% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 7%. What your card is worth ↓
Ralpho Township Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Ralpho Township Public Library records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $17 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 17% of the people Ralpho Township Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
64% of the 100 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 34 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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 Ralpho Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Ralpho Township is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns, #515 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Ralpho Township’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($90K–$150K) 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 →
26 community nonprofits are registered in Ralpho Township
6.2 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.2%
7.2% of Ralpho Township’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 Ralpho Township’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Ralpho Township Public Library serves 4,186 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
8,791 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 17K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
3,218 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
100 programs a year
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 Ralpho Township last year.
Find it
Ralpho Township Public Library, 206 S. Market St. Suite 6, Elysburg.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Ralpho 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 $2.11 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ralpho Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $69K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $146K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $69K 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 715 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ralpho Township | Ralpho Township Public Library fine-free | 2.1 | 30 | C+ |
| Cleveland Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Shamokin Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Coal Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Franklin Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Rush Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Mayberry 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Ralpho Township Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Ralpho Township
Does Ralpho Township have a public library?
Yes. Ralpho Township Public Library, 206 S. Market St. Suite 6, serves Ralpho Township’s 4,186 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ralpho Township Public 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 Ralpho Township’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 2.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Ralpho Township’s civic life grade?
C+ Ralpho Township is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns on civic life, #515 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 Ralpho 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.