Alexander Hamilton House · Photo: StephenMonn · CC BY-SA 3.0Waynesboro’s library runs 57 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Alexander Hamilton Memorial Free Library serves Waynesboro’s 10,951 residents. Last year it lent 49K books, movies and e-books and logged 63K visits.
Waynesboro’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
56% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 33%. What your card is worth ↓
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Alexander Hamilton Memorial Free Library ran 628 programs last year, about 12 a week. That’s 57 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. People show up: 15,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
A place to get online
Alexander Hamilton Memorial Free Library logs about 1,040 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 12 public computers. That’s 35 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
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.
What’s behind Waynesboro’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Waynesboro is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns, #172 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Library visits hold the grade up; Waynesboro’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 →
39 community nonprofits are registered in Waynesboro
3.6 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 (11 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.1%
8.1% of Waynesboro’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 Waynesboro’s residents live; 2022.
About 6 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 Waynesboro last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Alexander Hamilton Memorial Free Library serves 10,951 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 23 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
49K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 41K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
10,007 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Alexander Hamilton Memorial Free Library, 45 East Main Street, Waynesboro.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Waynesboro? 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 $4.21 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Waynesboro cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $478K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $478K 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 7,006 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waynesboro | Alexander Hamilton Memorial Free Library | 4.5 | 42 | B+ |
| Wayne Heights | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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 Waynesboro
Does Waynesboro have a public library?
Yes. Alexander Hamilton Memorial Free Library, 45 East Main Street, serves Waynesboro’s 10,951 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Alexander Hamilton Memorial Free 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 Waynesboro’s library?
It logged 5.7 visits and lent 4.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Waynesboro’s civic life grade?
B+ Waynesboro is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns on civic life, #172 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 Waynesboro.
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.