Photo: Jakec · CC BY-SA 4.0Sunbury’s library runs 43 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Degenstein Community Library serves 18,002 people in and around Sunbury. Last year it lent 38K books, movies and e-books and logged 55K visits.
What stands out about Degenstein Community Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Sunbury’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sunbury is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns, #36 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Sunbury is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Sunbury’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 →
74 community nonprofits are registered in Sunbury
7.7 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 (13 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.6%
8.6% of Sunbury’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 Sunbury’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Degenstein Community Library serves 18,002 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Degenstein Community Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
38K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
7,109 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 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
Degenstein Community Library, 40 South Fifth Street, Sunbury.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Degenstein Community Library branch.
New in Sunbury? 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 $1.74 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sunbury cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $404K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $702K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $404K 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 4,603 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Degenstein Community Library serves 18,002 people in and around Sunbury, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Sunbury.
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 Sunbury
Does Sunbury have a public library?
Yes. Degenstein Community Library, 40 South Fifth Street, serves 18,002 people in and around Sunbury (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Degenstein Community 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 Sunbury’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 2.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Sunbury’s civic life grade?
A Sunbury is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns on civic life, #36 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 Sunbury.
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.