Photo: Cv822 · CC BY-SA 4.0Springdale’s library logs 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Springdale Free Public Library serves 9,745 people in and around Springdale. Last year it lent 41K books, movies and e-books and logged 12K visits.
The short version on Springdale’s library
Few residents carry a card
Only 17% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
44% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 44% of loans, more per resident than at 73% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 56%, much of it kids’ books. 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; Springdale Free Public Library serves 9,745 people in and around Springdale, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Springdale’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Springdale is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns, #267 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Springdale is graded on two of the three inputs. Springdale’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Springdale
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.0%
7.0% of Springdale’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 Springdale’s residents live; 2022.
44% of borrowing is digital
41K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
17,766 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Springdale Free Public Library serves 9,745 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Springdale Free Public Library system. The library’s own count.
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
Springdale Free Public Library, 331 School St., Springdale.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Springdale Free Public Library branch.
New in Springdale? 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 $3.00 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Springdale cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $218K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $653K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $218K 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 1,701 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plum | Plum Borough Community Library fine-free | 5.9 | 51 | D |
| Springdale | Springdale Free Public Library | — | 44 | B |
| Springdale Township | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
| Cheswick | 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. Springdale Free Public Library serves 9,745 people in and around Springdale, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Springdale.
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 Springdale
Does Springdale have a public library?
Yes. Springdale Free Public Library, 331 School St., serves 9,745 people in and around Springdale (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Springdale 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 Springdale’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 4.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Springdale’s civic life grade?
B Springdale is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns on civic life, #267 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 Springdale.
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.