Towanda Historic District · Photo: Nicholas · CC BY 2.0Towanda’s library lends 1.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Towanda Public Library serves 10,096 people in and around Towanda. Last year it lent 21K books, movies and e-books and logged 13K visits.
The short version on Towanda’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
70% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 15%. What your card is worth ↓
Towanda Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Towanda Public Library records 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 1.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $14 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 17% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Towanda Public Library spends $14 per resident, less than 91% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
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; Towanda Public Library serves 10,096 people in and around Towanda, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Towanda’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Towanda is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns, #148 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Towanda is graded on two of the three inputs. Towanda’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 →
21 community nonprofits are registered in Towanda
7.5 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.
6.7%
6.7% of Towanda’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 Towanda’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.
Towanda Public Library serves 10,096 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 Towanda Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
21K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
5,967 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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
Towanda Public Library, 104 Main St., Towanda.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Towanda Public Library branch.
New in Towanda? 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 $2.37 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Towanda cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $139K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $329K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $139K 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 1,761 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Towanda | Towanda Public Library | — | 45 | B+ |
| Towanda Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| North Towanda Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Wysox Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
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. Towanda Public Library serves 10,096 people in and around Towanda, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Towanda.
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 Towanda
Does Towanda have a public library?
Yes. Towanda Public Library, 104 Main St., serves 10,096 people in and around Towanda (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Towanda 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 Towanda’s library?
It logged 1.3 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 Towanda’s civic life grade?
B+ Towanda is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns on civic life, #148 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 Towanda.
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.