Woodland · Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ, M.D. · CC BY-SA 4.0St. Thomas Township’s library is a branch of Franklin County Library System - Admin Unit, which lends less per resident than 77% of systems its size
St. Thomas Township’s library is the St. Thomas Branch Library, a branch of Franklin County Library System - Admin Unit, which serves 135,038 people and lent 318K items last year.
What St. Thomas Township’s library is like
Open only about 20 hours a week
The St. Thomas Township branch keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Pennsylvania pays a big share
22% of the budget comes from the state, and 52% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. 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; St. Thomas Township’s library is a branch of Franklin County Library System - Admin Unit, so they cover the whole system (135,038 people), not just the St. Thomas Township branch.
What’s behind St. Thomas Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, St. Thomas Township is ahead of 16% of U.S. towns, #877 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. St. Thomas Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; St. Thomas Township’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($55K–$92K) 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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in St. Thomas Township
2.7 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.
5.8%
5.8% of St. Thomas 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 St. Thomas Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Franklin County Library System - Admin Unit serves 135,038 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Franklin County Library System - Admin Unit system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
318K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
65,101 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 21 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
St. Thomas Branch Library, 30 School House Road, St. Thomas.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Franklin County Library System - Admin Unit branch.
New in St. Thomas 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 $1.66 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average St. Thomas Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $3.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.3M 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 34,849 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Thomas Township | St. Thomas Branch Library fine-free | — | 20 | C− |
| Hamilton Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Antrim Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Metal Township | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
| Peters Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Letterkenny Township | None of its own | — | — | D− |
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. St. Thomas Branch Library is one branch of Franklin County Library System - Admin Unit, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 135,038 people it serves.
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 St. Thomas Township
Does St. Thomas Township have a public library?
Yes: St. Thomas Branch Library, 30 School House Road, is a branch of Franklin County Library System - Admin Unit, which serves 135,038 people. The branch is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Franklin County Library System - Admin Unit 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 St. Thomas Township’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 2.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is St. Thomas Township’s civic life grade?
C− St. Thomas Township is ahead of 16% of U.S. towns on civic life, #877 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 St. Thomas 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.