West Grove’s library runs 23 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Avon Grove Library serves 33,145 people in and around West Grove. Last year it lent 160K books, movies and e-books and logged 78K visits.
The short version on West Grove’s library
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
34% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 46%. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
73% of the 771 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 8.4 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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; Avon Grove Library serves 33,145 people in and around West Grove, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind West Grove’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, West Grove is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns, #682 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. West Grove is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; West Grove’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($70K–$116K) 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 →
9 community nonprofits are registered in West Grove
3.3 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.3%
6.3% of West Grove’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 West Grove’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Avon Grove Library serves 33,145 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 59 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Avon Grove Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
160K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
58,370 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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.
Find it
Avon Grove Library, 117 Rosehill Avenue, West Grove.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Avon Grove Library branch.
New in West Grove? 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 $5.68 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average West Grove cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $476K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $476K 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 8,411 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Avon Grove Library serves 33,145 people in and around West Grove, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just West Grove.
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 West Grove
Does West Grove have a public library?
Yes. Avon Grove Library, 117 Rosehill Avenue, serves 33,145 people in and around West Grove (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Avon Grove 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 West Grove’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 4.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is West Grove’s civic life grade?
C West Grove is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns on civic life, #682 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 West Grove.
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.