Sharpsburg’s library is a branch of Cooper-Siegel Community Library, which lends more per resident than 86% of systems its size
Sharpsburg’s library is the Sharpsburg Branch Library, a branch of Cooper-Siegel Community Library, which serves 29,438 people and lent 364K items last year.
What Sharpsburg’s library is like
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.7 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. It’s 30% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
The Cooper-Siegel Community Library system ran 1,039 programs last year, about 20 a week. That’s 35 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
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 61%. What your card is worth ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 52% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 88% 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; Sharpsburg’s library is a branch of Cooper-Siegel Community Library, so they cover the whole system (29,438 people), not just the Sharpsburg branch.
What’s behind Sharpsburg’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sharpsburg is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns, #117 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Sharpsburg is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Sharpsburg’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 →
15 community nonprofits are registered in Sharpsburg
4.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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.
8.4%
8.4% of Sharpsburg’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 Sharpsburg’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Cooper-Siegel Community Library serves 29,438 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 85 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Cooper-Siegel Community Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
364K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
108,678 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Sharpsburg Branch Library, 1212 Main Street, Pittsburgh.
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 Cooper-Siegel Community Library branch.
New in Sharpsburg? 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 $4.52 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sharpsburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M 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 13,765 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shaler Township | Shaler North Hills Library fine-free | 17.1 | 50 | B− |
| Pittsburgh | Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh fine-free | 9.6 | 62 | A− |
| Sharpsburg | Sharpsburg Branch Library fine-free | — | 34 | B+ |
| O'Hara Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Etna | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Aspinwall | 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. Sharpsburg Branch Library is one branch of Cooper-Siegel Community Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 29,438 people it serves.
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 Sharpsburg
Does Sharpsburg have a public library?
Yes: Sharpsburg Branch Library, 1212 Main Street, is a branch of Cooper-Siegel Community Library, which serves 29,438 people. The branch is open about 34 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cooper-Siegel Community 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 Sharpsburg’s library?
It logged 3.9 visits and lent 12.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Sharpsburg’s civic life grade?
B+ Sharpsburg is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns on civic life, #117 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 Sharpsburg.
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.