Photo: Ugen64 at English Wikipedia · Public domainSwarthmore’s library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Swarthmore Public Library serves Swarthmore’s 6,543 residents. Last year it lent 102K books, movies and e-books and logged 71K visits.
What Swarthmore’s library is like
Swarthmore uses its library more than almost any town its size
Swarthmore Public Library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 12 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 94% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 55% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 32 items per child in Swarthmore last year. Kids & programs ↓
Swarthmore out-borrows every town next door
At 16 loans per resident, Swarthmore leads the five towns here. The closest is Nether Providence Township, at 8. Libraries next door ↓
Top 10% in Pennsylvania for library use
Swarthmore ranks #4 of 108 Pennsylvania towns with a library of their own for visits per resident. That’s 11 visits per resident, more than at 95% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.8 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. It’s 24% of all loans. 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.
What’s behind Swarthmore’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Swarthmore is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns, #14 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank 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 →
50 community nonprofits are registered in Swarthmore
7.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.5%
8.5% of Swarthmore’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 Swarthmore’s residents live; 2022.
About 7 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Swarthmore last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Swarthmore Public Library serves 6,543 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 40 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
102K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 35K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.2 times last year, on average.
24,737 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Swarthmore Public Library, 121 Park Avenue, Swarthmore.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Swarthmore? 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 $4.85 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Swarthmore cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $333K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $333K 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 3,126 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Swarthmore borrows the most per resident of the 5 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swarthmore | Swarthmore Public Library | 15.6 | 49 | A |
| Nether Providence Township | Helen Kate Furness Free Library | 8.0 | 48 | B |
| Springfield Township | Springfield Township Library fine-free | 7.1 | 56 | B |
| Ridley Township | Ridley Township Public Library fine-free | 5.6 | 48 | C− |
| Folsom | Ridley Township Public Library fine-free | 5.6 | 48 | — graded as part of its town |
| Woodlyn | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Swarthmore
Does Swarthmore have a public library?
Yes. Swarthmore Public Library, 121 Park Avenue, serves Swarthmore’s 6,543 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Swarthmore 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 Swarthmore’s library?
It logged 10.8 visits and lent 15.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Swarthmore’s civic life grade?
A Swarthmore is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns on civic life, #14 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 Swarthmore.
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.