Richland Township’s library runs 33 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Northern Tier Regional Library serves 26,633 people in and around Richland Township. Last year it lent 297K books, movies and e-books and logged 68K visits.
Richland Township’s library, in brief
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.5 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries. It’s 31% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
25% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 67%. 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; Northern Tier Regional Library serves 26,633 people in and around Richland Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Richland Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Richland Township is ahead of 49% of U.S. towns, #359 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Richland Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Richland Township’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
48 community nonprofits are registered in Richland Township
4.1 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 (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.2%
7.2% of Richland 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 Richland Township’s residents live; 2022.
About 10 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Northern Tier Regional Library serves 26,633 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 108 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Northern Tier Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
297K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
92,183 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Northern Tier Regional Library, 4015 Dickey Rd, Gibsonia.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Northern Tier Regional Library branch.
New in Richland 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 $4.39 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Richland Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.1M 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 14,584 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hampton Township | Hampton Community Library | 8.8 | 44 | C |
| Richland Township | Northern Tier Regional Library fine-free | — | 53 | B− |
| West Deer Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Pine Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Middlesex Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Bakerstown | 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.
- System-wide. Northern Tier Regional Library serves 26,633 people in and around Richland Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Richland Township.
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 Richland Township
Does Richland Township have a public library?
Yes. Northern Tier Regional Library, 4015 Dickey Rd, serves 26,633 people in and around Richland Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Northern Tier Regional 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 Richland Township’s library?
It logged 2.5 visits and lent 11.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Richland Township’s civic life grade?
B− Richland Township is ahead of 49% of U.S. towns on civic life, #359 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 Richland 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.