Lazaretto, The · Public domainTinicum Township’s library runs 87 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Tinicum Memorial Public Library serves Tinicum Township’s 3,983 residents. Last year it lent 24K books, movies and e-books and logged 13K visits.
Tinicum Township’s library, in brief
Tinicum Township out-borrows every town next door
At 6 loans per resident, Tinicum Township leads the eight towns here. The closest is Ridley Township, at 5.6. Libraries next door ↓
Programs lean toward adults
54% of the 347 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 146 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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 Tinicum Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Tinicum Township is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns, #598 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Tinicum Township’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($40K–$67K) 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 →
15 community nonprofits are registered in Tinicum Township
3.8 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 (3 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.
5.5%
5.5% of Tinicum 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 Tinicum Township’s residents live; 2022.
About 3 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 Tinicum Township last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Tinicum Memorial Public Library serves 3,983 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
24K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 24K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
2,378 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Tinicum Memorial Public Library, 620 Seneca St., Essington.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Tinicum 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 $1.84 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Tinicum Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $206K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $379K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $206K 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 1,129 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Tinicum Township borrows the most per resident of the 8 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tinicum Township | Tinicum Memorial Public Library | 6.0 | 43 | C |
| Ridley Township | Ridley Township Public Library fine-free | 5.6 | 48 | C− |
| Norwood | Norwood Public Library | 4.7 | 41 | C− |
| West Deptford Township | West Deptford Public Library | 2.4 | 52 | C− |
| Thorofare | West Deptford Public Library | 2.4 | 52 | — graded as part of its town |
| Prospect Park | Prospect Park Free Library | 2.4 | 33 | C− |
| Folcroft | Folcroft Public Library | 1.5 | 45 | D |
| Paulsboro | Gill Memorial Library | 0.3 | 30 | D |
| Philadelphia | Free Library of Philadelphia fine-free | — | 49 | D |
| Greenwich Township | Gibbstown Public Library | — | 53 | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Tinicum Memorial Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Tinicum Township
Does Tinicum Township have a public library?
Yes. Tinicum Memorial Public Library, 620 Seneca St., serves Tinicum Township’s 3,983 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Tinicum Memorial 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 Tinicum Township’s library?
It logged 3.3 visits and lent 6.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Tinicum Township’s civic life grade?
C Tinicum Township is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns on civic life, #598 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 Tinicum 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.