Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0Schuylkill Haven’s library logs 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Schuylkill Haven Free Public Library serves 8,375 people in and around Schuylkill Haven. Last year it lent 12K books, movies and e-books and logged 9,095 visits.
The short version on Schuylkill Haven’s library
Schuylkill Haven Free Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Schuylkill Haven Free Public Library records 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $18 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 17% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
27% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 36%. What your card is worth ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 2% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 92% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; Schuylkill Haven Free Public Library serves 8,375 people in and around Schuylkill Haven, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Schuylkill Haven’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Schuylkill Haven is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns, #516 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Schuylkill Haven is graded on two of the three inputs. Schuylkill Haven’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($41K–$68K) 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 →
20 community nonprofits are registered in Schuylkill Haven
3.9 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.6%
6.6% of Schuylkill Haven’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 Schuylkill Haven’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.
Schuylkill Haven Free Public Library serves 8,375 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Schuylkill Haven Free Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
12K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
278 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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
Schuylkill Haven Free Public Library, 104 Saint John St., Schuylkill Haven.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Schuylkill Haven Free Public Library branch.
New in Schuylkill Haven? 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 $1.29 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Schuylkill Haven cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $148K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $190K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $148K 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 1,447 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schuylkill Haven | Schuylkill Haven Free Public Library | — | 45 | C+ |
| North Manheim Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Cressona | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| South Manheim 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. Schuylkill Haven Free Public Library serves 8,375 people in and around Schuylkill Haven, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Schuylkill Haven.
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 Schuylkill Haven
Does Schuylkill Haven have a public library?
Yes. Schuylkill Haven Free Public Library, 104 Saint John St., serves 8,375 people in and around Schuylkill Haven (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Schuylkill Haven Free 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 Schuylkill Haven’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 1.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Schuylkill Haven’s civic life grade?
C+ Schuylkill Haven is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns on civic life, #516 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 Schuylkill Haven.
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.