Photo: Hshuvaeva · CC BY-SA 3.0Tamaqua’s library logs 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Tamaqua Public Library serves 16,766 people in and around Tamaqua. Last year it lent 22K books, movies and e-books and logged 21K visits.
What Tamaqua’s library is like
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
75% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 8%. What your card is worth ↓
Tamaqua Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Tamaqua Public Library records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 1.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $13 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
73% of the 188 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Tamaqua Public Library spends $13 per resident, less than 92% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 2% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 96% of similar-size libraries. 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; Tamaqua Public Library serves 16,766 people in and around Tamaqua, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Tamaqua’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Tamaqua is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns, #158 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Tamaqua is graded on two of the three inputs. Tamaqua’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 →
46 community nonprofits are registered in Tamaqua
6.6 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 (6 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.
6.8%
6.8% of Tamaqua’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 Tamaqua’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Tamaqua Public Library serves 16,766 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Tamaqua Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
22K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
342 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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
Tamaqua Public Library, 30 South Railroad St., Tamaqua.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Tamaqua Public Library branch.
New in Tamaqua? 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 $1.84 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Tamaqua cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $210K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $385K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $210K 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 3,351 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tamaqua | Tamaqua Public Library | — | 46 | B+ |
| Walker Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Schuylkill Township | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
| Coaldale | None of its own | — | — | C |
| West Penn Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Summit Hill | 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. Tamaqua Public Library serves 16,766 people in and around Tamaqua, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Tamaqua.
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 Tamaqua
Does Tamaqua have a public library?
Yes. Tamaqua Public Library, 30 South Railroad St., serves 16,766 people in and around Tamaqua (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Tamaqua 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 Tamaqua’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 1.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Tamaqua’s civic life grade?
B+ Tamaqua is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns on civic life, #158 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 Tamaqua.
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.