Red Hill Historic District · Photo: Smallbones · CC0Red Hill’s library is a branch of Montgomery County - Norristown Public Library, which lends less per resident than 84% of systems its size
Red Hill’s library is the Upper Perkiomen Valley Library, a branch of Montgomery County - Norristown Public Library, which serves 336,716 people and lent 757K items last year.
What Red Hill’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 100,000+ people, the Montgomery County - Norristown Public Library system sits below the middle on all six per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on five. How it compares ↓
Pennsylvania pays a big share
37% of the budget comes from the state, and 56% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
67% of the 3,188 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 28 a week for ages 0–5. 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; Red Hill’s library is a branch of Montgomery County - Norristown Public Library, so they cover the whole system (336,716 people), not just the Red Hill branch.
What’s behind Red Hill’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Red Hill is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns, #9 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Red Hill is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Red Hill’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 →
23 community nonprofits are registered in Red Hill
9.2 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.7%
9.7% of Red Hill’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 Red Hill’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Montgomery County - Norristown Public Library serves 336,716 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 50 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Montgomery County - Norristown Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Visits aren’t shown: this year’s report counted only 81,482 visits against 757K loans, so we leave the count out.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
757K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
225,400 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 41 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
Upper Perkiomen Valley Library, 350 Main St., Red Hill.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Montgomery County - Norristown Public Library branch.
New in Red Hill? 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 $2.05 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Red Hill cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $5.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $11M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.6M 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 95,647 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hill | Upper Perkiomen Valley Library | — | 51 | A |
| Pennsburg | 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. Upper Perkiomen Valley Library is one branch of Montgomery County - Norristown Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 336,716 people it serves.
- Visits left out. This year’s visit count is far below what the library lends, so we leave it out.
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 Red Hill
Does Red Hill have a public library?
Yes: Upper Perkiomen Valley Library, 350 Main St., is a branch of Montgomery County - Norristown Public Library, which serves 336,716 people. The branch is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Montgomery County - Norristown Public 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 Red Hill’s library?
It lent 2.2 items per resident in 2024 (print and digital) and ran 3,188 programs that drew 46,858 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Red Hill’s civic life grade?
A Red Hill is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on civic life, #9 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 Red Hill.
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.