Sinking Spring’s library lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Sinking Spring Public Library serves Sinking Spring’s 4,286 residents. Last year it lent 64K books, movies and e-books and logged 39K visits.
Sinking Spring’s library, in brief
Sinking Spring uses its library more than almost any town its size
Sinking Spring Public Library logs 9.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 12 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 92% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
44% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 34%. What your card is worth ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Sinking Spring Public Library ran 443 programs last year, about 9 a week. That’s 103 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 7,904 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Top 10% in Pennsylvania for library use
Sinking Spring ranks #6 of 108 Pennsylvania towns with a library of their own for visits per resident. That’s 9.1 visits per resident, more than at 92% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 41% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 22 items per child in Sinking Spring last year. 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.
What’s behind Sinking Spring’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Sinking Spring is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns, #248 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Library visits hold the grade up; Sinking Spring’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Sinking Spring
2.5 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.7%
7.7% of Sinking Spring’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 Sinking Spring’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Sinking Spring last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Sinking Spring Public Library serves 4,286 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 26 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
64K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 24K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.2 times last year, on average.
10,621 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Sinking Spring Public Library, 3940 Penn Ave, Sinking Spring.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Sinking Spring? 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 $3.85 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sinking Spring cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $269K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $269K 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 3,325 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sinking Spring | Sinking Spring Public Library fine-free | 14.8 | 46 | B |
| Spring Township | Spring Township Library fine-free | 4.6 | 46 | C |
| Whitfield | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Lower Heidelberg Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Springmont | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| South Heidelberg Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| West Wyomissing | 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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Sinking Spring
Does Sinking Spring have a public library?
Yes. Sinking Spring Public Library, 3940 Penn Ave, serves Sinking Spring’s 4,286 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sinking Spring 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 Sinking Spring’s library?
It logged 9.1 visits and lent 14.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Sinking Spring’s civic life grade?
B Sinking Spring is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns on civic life, #248 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 Sinking Spring.
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.