Photo: Generic1139 · CC BY-SA 3.0Whitehall’s library runs 70 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Whitehall Public Library serves Whitehall’s 15,064 residents. Last year it lent 165K books, movies and e-books and logged 40K visits.
Whitehall’s library, in brief
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Whitehall Public Library ran 1,061 programs last year, about 20 a week. That’s 70 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. People show up: 19,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Whitehall out-borrows every town next door
At 11.0 loans per resident, Whitehall leads the six towns here. The closest is Brentwood, at 10.3. Libraries next door ↓
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 Whitehall’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Whitehall is ahead of 21% of U.S. towns, #797 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Whitehall’s 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($67K–$112K) 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 →
42 community nonprofits are registered in Whitehall
2.8 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 (6 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.
5.8%
5.8% of Whitehall’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 Whitehall’s residents live; 2022.
About 13 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 Whitehall last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Whitehall Public Library serves 15,064 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 64 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
165K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 49K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.6 times last year, on average.
36,975 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Whitehall Public Library, 100 Borough Park Dr, Pittsburgh.
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 Whitehall? 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 $3.71 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Whitehall cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $712K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $712K 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 7,400 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Whitehall borrows the most per resident of the 6 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitehall | Whitehall Public Library fine-free | 11.0 | 50 | C− |
| Brentwood | Brentwood Library fine-free | 10.3 | 44 | B− |
| Bethel Park | Bethel Park Public Library fine-free | 9.9 | 57 | C |
| Pittsburgh | Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh fine-free | 9.6 | 62 | A− |
| Castle Shannon | Community Library of Castle Shannon fine-free | 7.6 | 44 | A− |
| Baldwin | Baldwin Borough Public Library fine-free | 3.7 | 53 | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Whitehall Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Whitehall
Does Whitehall have a public library?
Yes. Whitehall Public Library, 100 Borough Park Dr, serves Whitehall’s 15,064 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Whitehall 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 Whitehall’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 11.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Whitehall’s civic life grade?
C− Whitehall is ahead of 21% of U.S. towns on civic life, #797 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 Whitehall.
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.