Photo: BigCheddah · CC BY-SA 4.0Reading’s library runs 21 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Reading Public Library serves Reading’s 130,706 residents from 4 locations. Last year it lent 205K books, movies and e-books and logged 172K visits.
Reading’s library, in brief
Reading Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Reading Public Library records 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people. Borrowing is 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 13% of the people Reading Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 41% for its size. How it compares ↓
Four places to borrow in Reading
Reading Public Library runs four locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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 Reading’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Reading is ahead of 4% of U.S. towns, #1,011 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Reading is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Reading’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($33K–$55K) 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 →
221 community nonprofits are registered in Reading
2.3 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 (81 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
2.9%
2.9% of Reading’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 Reading’s residents live; 2022.
About 22 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 Reading last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Reading Public Library serves 130,706 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 30 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
205K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 252K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
43,006 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
4 places to borrow in Reading
Reading Public Library, 100 S. 5th Street, Reading.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Reading? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Reading
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Reading cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $5.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.2M 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 16,964 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wyomissing | Wyomissing Public Library fine-free | 5.4 | 47 | B+ |
| Reading | Reading Public Library fine-free | 1.6 | 51 | D− |
| Muhlenberg Township | Muhlenberg Community Library fine-free | — | 44 | D |
| Bern Township | Schuylkill Valley Community Library fine-free | — | 43 | C+ |
| Cumru Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| West Reading | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Grill | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Kenhorst | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Lower Alsace Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Greenfields | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Hyde Park | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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 Reading
Does Reading have a public library?
Yes. Reading Public Library, 100 S. 5th Street, serves Reading’s 130,706 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Reading 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 Reading’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 1.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Reading’s civic life grade?
D− Reading is ahead of 4% of U.S. towns on civic life, #1,011 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 Reading.
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.