Photo: . The original uploader was Bowie60 at English Wikipedia. · CC BY-SA 3.0Tower City’s library logs 0.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Tower-Porter Community Library serves 3,564 people in and around Tower City. Last year it logged 504 visits.
Tower City’s library, in brief
Pennsylvania pays a big share
54% of the budget comes from the state, and 32% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Tower-Porter Community Library offered 3 programs last year, 0.8 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Open only about 18 hours a week
The Tower City branch keeps short hours: about 18 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Runs on less money than most
Tower-Porter Community Library spends $7 per resident, less than 98% 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; Tower-Porter Community Library serves 3,564 people in and around Tower City, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Tower City’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Tower City is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns. Tower City is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Tower City’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
5 community nonprofits are registered in Tower City
3.4 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.8%
7.8% of Tower City’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 Tower City’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 5 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Tower-Porter Community Library serves 3,564 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
A year at Tower-Porter Community Library
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Tower-Porter Community Library system. The library’s own count.
Loans aren’t shown: this year’s report counted only 422 items borrowed against 504 visits, so we leave the count out.
3 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Tower-Porter Community Library, 230 E Grand Ave, Tower City.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Tower-Porter Community Library branch.
New in Tower City? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Tower City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $24K.
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 1,009 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tower City | Tower-Porter Community Library | — | 18 | B− |
| Reinerton | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Tower-Porter Community Library serves 3,564 people in and around Tower City, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Tower City.
- Loans left out. This year’s loan count is far below the library’s visits and shelves, so we leave it out.
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 Tower City
Does Tower City have a public library?
Yes. Tower-Porter Community Library, 230 E Grand Ave, serves 3,564 people in and around Tower City (the survey’s count) and is open about 18 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Tower-Porter Community 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 Tower City’s library?
It logged 0.1 visits per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Tower City’s civic life grade?
B− Tower City is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Tower City.
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.