Photo: Adam Moss · CC BY-SA 2.0Titusville’s library runs 15 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Benson Memorial Library, Inc. serves 13,299 people in and around Titusville. Last year it lent 54K books, movies and e-books and logged 38K visits.
Titusville’s library, in brief
Pennsylvania pays a big share
40% of the budget comes from the state, and 38% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Benson Memorial Library, Inc. sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on three. How it compares ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 5% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 90% 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; Benson Memorial Library, Inc. serves 13,299 people in and around Titusville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Titusville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Titusville is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns, #11 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Titusville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Titusville’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 →
58 community nonprofits are registered in Titusville
11.1 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 (12 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.
9.2%
9.2% of Titusville’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 Titusville’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.
Benson Memorial Library, Inc. serves 13,299 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 22 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Benson Memorial Library, Inc. system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
54K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,743 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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
Benson Memorial Library, Inc., 213 North Franklin St., Titusville.
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 Benson Memorial Library, Inc. branch.
New in Titusville? 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 $2.41 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Titusville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $395K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $953K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $395K 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 2,622 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Titusville | Benson Memorial Library, Inc. fine-free | — | 48 | A |
| Oil Creek Township | 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. Benson Memorial Library, Inc. serves 13,299 people in and around Titusville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Titusville.
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 Titusville
Does Titusville have a public library?
Yes. Benson Memorial Library, Inc., 213 North Franklin St., serves 13,299 people in and around Titusville (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Benson Memorial Library, Inc. 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 Titusville’s library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 4.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Titusville’s civic life grade?
A Titusville is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on civic life, #11 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 Titusville.
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.