Photo: J. Passepartout · CC BY-SA 4.0Shippensburg’s library logs 6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Shippensburg Public Library serves 31,554 people in and around Shippensburg. Last year it lent 211K books, movies and e-books and logged 189K visits.
The short version on Shippensburg’s library
Busy on a lean budget
Shippensburg Public Library spends $22 per resident, less than 77% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). It’s still busier than 82% of them. What your card is worth ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
49% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 40%. What your card is worth ↓
Visits are the system’s strong suit
Shippensburg Public Library logs 6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 92% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 6.1 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Shippensburg Public Library ran 1,150 programs last year, about 22 a week. That’s 36 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. 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; Shippensburg Public Library serves 31,554 people in and around Shippensburg, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Shippensburg’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Shippensburg is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns, #766 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Shippensburg is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Shippensburg’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Shippensburg Public Library spends $22 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($39K–$64K) 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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Shippensburg
3.4 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.5%
5.5% of Shippensburg’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 Shippensburg’s residents live; 2022.
About 13 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 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Shippensburg Public Library serves 31,554 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 71 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Shippensburg Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
211K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
18,973 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Shippensburg Public Library, 73 W King St., Shippensburg.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Shippensburg Public Library branch.
New in Shippensburg? 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 $4.50 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Shippensburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $710K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $710K 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 8,598 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shippensburg | Shippensburg Public Library | — | 57 | C− |
| Shippensburg Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Southampton Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Shippensburg University | 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. Shippensburg Public Library serves 31,554 people in and around Shippensburg, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Shippensburg.
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 Shippensburg
Does Shippensburg have a public library?
Yes. Shippensburg Public Library, 73 W King St., serves 31,554 people in and around Shippensburg (the survey’s count) and is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Shippensburg 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 Shippensburg’s library?
It logged 6.0 visits and lent 6.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Shippensburg’s civic life grade?
C− Shippensburg is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns on civic life, #766 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 Shippensburg.
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.