Photo: Canadian2006 · CC BY-SA 3.0Somerset Township’s library logs 1.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Somerset County Library serves 37,498 people in and around Somerset Township. Last year it lent 107K books, movies and e-books and logged 61K visits.
The short version on Somerset Township’s library
Pennsylvania pays a big share
36% of the budget comes from the state, and 41% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Somerset County Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 13% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
Open about 64 hours a week
The Somerset Township branch is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
Runs on less money than most
Somerset County Library spends $13 per resident, less than 92% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). What your card is worth ↓
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; Somerset County Library serves 37,498 people in and around Somerset Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Somerset Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Somerset Township is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns, #45 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Somerset Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
47 community nonprofits are registered in Somerset Township
4.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
13.5%
13.5% of Somerset Township’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 Somerset Township’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Somerset County Library serves 37,498 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
A year at Somerset County Library
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Somerset County Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
107K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
7,432 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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
Somerset County Library, 6022 Glades Pike, Suite 120, Somerset.
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 Somerset County Library branch.
New in Somerset Township? 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 $3.37 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Somerset Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $485K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $485K 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 5,024 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Somerset Township | Somerset County Library fine-free | — | 64 | A |
| Lincoln Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Black Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Milford Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Brothersvalley Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Stonycreek Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Jefferson Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
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. Somerset County Library serves 37,498 people in and around Somerset Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Somerset Township.
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 Somerset Township
Does Somerset Township have a public library?
Yes. Somerset County Library, 6022 Glades Pike, Suite 120, serves 37,498 people in and around Somerset Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Somerset County 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 Somerset Township’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 2.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Somerset Township’s civic life grade?
A Somerset Township is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns on civic life, #45 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 Somerset Township.
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.