Spring City’s library runs 14 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Spring City Free Public Library serves 14,461 people in and around Spring City. Last year it lent 40K books, movies and e-books and logged 29K visits.
Spring City’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Spring City Free Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on six. How it compares ↓
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 43%. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
Spring City Free Public Library spends $12 per resident, less than 93% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 58% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 62% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. What people borrow ↓
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; Spring City Free Public Library serves 14,461 people in and around Spring City, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Spring City’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Spring City is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns, #523 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Spring City is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($57K–$96K) 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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in Spring City
3.3 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.4%
7.4% of Spring City’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 Spring City’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Spring City Free Public Library serves 14,461 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Spring City Free Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
40K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
7,461 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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
Spring City Free Public Library, 245 Broad St., Spring City.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Spring City Free Public Library branch.
New in Spring City? 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 $3.33 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Spring City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $179K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $596K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $179K 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 3,660 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring City | Spring City Free Public Library | — | 46 | C+ |
| Royersford | Royersford Free Public Library | — | 48 | C− |
| East Vincent Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| East Pikeland Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Upper Providence Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
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. Spring City Free Public Library serves 14,461 people in and around Spring City, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Spring City.
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 Spring City
Does Spring City have a public library?
Yes. Spring City Free Public Library, 245 Broad St., serves 14,461 people in and around Spring City (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Spring City Free 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 Spring City’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 2.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Spring City’s civic life grade?
C+ Spring City is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns on civic life, #523 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 Spring City.
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.