Photo: Montgomery County Planning Commission · CC BY-SA 2.0Upper Moreland Township’s library lends 6.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Upper Moreland Free Public Library serves Upper Moreland Township’s 26,116 residents. Last year it lent 203K books, movies and e-books and logged 38K visits.
What stands out about Upper Moreland Township’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Upper Moreland Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Upper Moreland Township is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns, #766 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($74K–$124K) 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 →
84 community nonprofits are registered in Upper Moreland Township
3.2 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 (27 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.1%
7.1% of Upper Moreland 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 Moreland Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Upper Moreland Free Public Library serves 26,116 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 73 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
203K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 64K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.7 times last year, on average.
31,133 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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 Upper Moreland Township last year.
Find it
Upper Moreland Free Public Library, 109 Park Avenue, Willow Grove.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Upper Moreland 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 $2.75 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Upper Moreland Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.1M 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 10,446 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Upper Moreland Township ranks 3rd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Moreland Township | Huntingdon Valley Library fine-free | 13.8 | 59 | B |
| Horsham Township | Horsham Township Library | 11.7 | 55 | B− |
| Upper Moreland Township | Upper Moreland Free Public Library fine-free | 7.8 | 54 | C− |
| Warminster Township | Warminster Township Free Library | 5.6 | 47 | C |
| Hatboro | Union Library Company of Hatborough | 4.2 | 54 | B− |
| Abington Township | Abington Township Public Library fine-free | — | 61 | B+ |
| Bryn Athyn | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Moreland Township
Does Upper Moreland Township have a public library?
Yes. Upper Moreland Free Public Library, 109 Park Avenue, serves Upper Moreland Township’s 26,116 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Upper Moreland 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 Moreland Township’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 7.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Upper Moreland Township’s civic life grade?
C− Upper Moreland Township is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns on civic life, #766 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 Moreland 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.