Photo: Tim Tierney · CC BY-SA 4.0Sewickley’s library lends 22 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Sewickley Public Library serves 14,121 people in and around Sewickley. Last year it lent 393K books, movies and e-books and logged 177K visits.
The short version on Sewickley’s library
One of the busiest library systems its size
Sewickley Public Library logs 13 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 22 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 99% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Sewickley Public Library ran 1,166 programs last year, about 22 a week. That’s 83 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. People show up: 25,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
50% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 46%. What your card is worth ↓
More library cards than residents
14,133 cards for 14,121 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 52% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. 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; Sewickley Public Library serves 14,121 people in and around Sewickley, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Sewickley’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sewickley is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns, #219 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Sewickley is graded on two of the three inputs. Sewickley’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 →
21 community nonprofits are registered in Sewickley
5.5 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.8%
6.8% of Sewickley’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 Sewickley’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 113 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Sewickley Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Sewickley Public Library serves 14,121 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
393K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
80,748 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 11 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
Sewickley Public Library, 500 Thorn St., Sewickley.
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 Sewickley Public Library branch.
New in Sewickley? 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 $3.98 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sewickley cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.5M 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 14,133 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moon Township | Moon Township Public Library | 10.9 | 53 | C− |
| Sewickley | Sewickley Public Library fine-free | — | 67 | B |
| Sewickley Heights | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Aleppo Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Edgeworth | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Glen Osborne | 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.
- System-wide. Sewickley Public Library serves 14,121 people in and around Sewickley, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Sewickley.
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 Sewickley
Does Sewickley have a public library?
Yes. Sewickley Public Library, 500 Thorn St., serves 14,121 people in and around Sewickley (the survey’s count) and is open about 67 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sewickley 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 Sewickley’s library?
It logged 12.5 visits and lent 27.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Sewickley’s civic life grade?
B Sewickley is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns on civic life, #219 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 Sewickley.
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.