Photo: Mtruch · CC BY-SA 3.0Upper Darby Township’s library lends 0.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Upper Darby Township & Sellers Memorial Free Public Library serves 183,227 people in and around Upper Darby Township from 3 locations. Last year it lent 279K books, movies and e-books and logged 146K visits.
The short version on Upper Darby Township’s library
Upper Darby Township & Sellers Memorial Free Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Upper Darby Township & Sellers Memorial Free Public Library records 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people. Borrowing is 0.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2. How it compares ↓
Pennsylvania pays a big share
34% of the budget comes from the state, and 58% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 19% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 41% for its size. How it compares ↓
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 50% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. 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; Upper Darby Township & Sellers Memorial Free Public Library serves 183,227 people in and around Upper Darby Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Upper Darby Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Upper Darby Township is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns, #975 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Upper Darby Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Upper Darby Township’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($54K–$89K) 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 →
214 community nonprofits are registered in Upper Darby Township
2.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (73 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 21 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.7%
4.7% of Upper Darby 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 Upper Darby Township’s residents live; 2022.
50% of borrowing is digital
279K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
139,580 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Upper Darby Township & Sellers Memorial Free Public Library serves 183,227 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 36 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Upper Darby Township & Sellers Memorial Free Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 11 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.
3 places to borrow in Upper Darby Township
Upper Darby Township & Sellers Memorial Free Public Library, 76 South State Rd, Upper Darby.
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 Upper Darby Township & Sellers Memorial Free Public Library branch.
New in Upper Darby Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Upper Darby Township & Sellers Memorial Free Public Library branches in Upper Darby Township
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.13 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Upper Darby Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $4.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.4M 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 35,654 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lansdowne | Lansdowne Public Library | 7.6 | 57 | C+ |
| Springfield Township | Springfield Township Library fine-free | 7.1 | 56 | B |
| Ridley Township | Ridley Township Public Library fine-free | 5.6 | 48 | C− |
| Haverford Township | Haverford Township Free Library | 5.5 | 56 | B− |
| Yeadon | Yeadon Public Library | 2.7 | 52 | C |
| Upper Darby Township | Upper Darby Township & Sellers Memorial Free Public Library fine-free | — | 53 | D |
| Philadelphia | Free Library of Philadelphia fine-free | — | 49 | D |
| Drexel Hill | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Clifton Heights | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Aldan | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Millbourne | None of its own | — | — | D− |
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. Upper Darby Township & Sellers Memorial Free Public Library serves 183,227 people in and around Upper Darby Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Upper Darby Township.
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 Upper Darby Township
Does Upper Darby Township have a public library?
Yes. Upper Darby Township & Sellers Memorial Free Public Library, 76 South State Rd, serves 183,227 people in and around Upper Darby Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Upper Darby Township & Sellers Memorial Free Public Library 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 Upper Darby Township’s library?
It logged 0.8 visits and lent 1.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Upper Darby Township’s civic life grade?
D Upper Darby Township is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns on civic life, #975 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 Upper Darby 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.