Photo: David Wilson · CC BY 2.0Vandergrift’s library logs 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Vandergrift Public Library Association serves 6,465 people in and around Vandergrift. Last year it lent 24K books, movies and e-books and logged 3,353 visits.
Vandergrift’s library, in brief
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
44% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 30%. What your card is worth ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
Vandergrift Public Library Association records 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, below 96% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 2.9 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Vandergrift Public Library Association spends $15 per resident, less than 90% 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; Vandergrift Public Library Association serves 6,465 people in and around Vandergrift, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Vandergrift’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Vandergrift is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns, #301 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Vandergrift is graded on two of the three inputs. Vandergrift’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 →
35 community nonprofits are registered in Vandergrift
7.0 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 (15 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.5%
5.5% of Vandergrift’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 Vandergrift’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Vandergrift Public Library Association serves 6,465 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Vandergrift Public Library Association system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
24K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
4,470 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
197 programs a year
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
Vandergrift Public Library Association, 128c Washington Avenue, Vandergrift.
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 Vandergrift Public Library Association branch.
New in Vandergrift? 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 $4.03 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Vandergrift cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $99K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $400K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $99K 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 1,532 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vandergrift | Vandergrift Public Library Association fine-free | — | 43 | B− |
| Allegheny Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Parks Township | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Pleasant View | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| North Vandergrift | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| East Vandergrift | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| North Apollo | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
| Kiskiminetas 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. Vandergrift Public Library Association serves 6,465 people in and around Vandergrift, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Vandergrift.
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 Vandergrift
Does Vandergrift have a public library?
Yes. Vandergrift Public Library Association, 128c Washington Avenue, serves 6,465 people in and around Vandergrift (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Vandergrift Public Library Association 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 Vandergrift’s library?
It logged 0.5 visits and lent 3.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Vandergrift’s civic life grade?
B− Vandergrift is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns on civic life, #301 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 Vandergrift.
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.