Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0State College’s library lends 5.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Schlow Centre Region Library serves 94,625 people in and around State College. Last year it lent 690K books, movies and e-books and logged 216K visits.
What stands out about Schlow Centre Region Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind State College’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, State College is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns, #31 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. State College is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; State College’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
284 community nonprofits are registered in State College
6.9 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 (50 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 9 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.1%
9.1% of State College’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 State College’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Schlow Centre Region Library serves 94,625 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 223 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Schlow Centre Region Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
690K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
148,616 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 8 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
Schlow Centre Region Library, 211 South Allen Street, State College.
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 Schlow Centre Region Library branch.
New in State College? 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 $3.24 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average State College cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.2M 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 40,800 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State College | Schlow Centre Region Library fine-free | — | 60 | A |
| College Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Ferguson Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
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. Schlow Centre Region Library serves 94,625 people in and around State College, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just State College.
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 State College
Does State College have a public library?
Yes. Schlow Centre Region Library, 211 South Allen Street, serves 94,625 people in and around State College (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Schlow Centre Region 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 State College’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 7.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is State College’s civic life grade?
A State College is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns on civic life, #31 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 State College.
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.