Photo: Umrok · CC BY-SA 4.0Wilkes-Barre’s library logs 0.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Osterhout Free Library serves Wilkes-Barre’s 120,502 residents from 4 locations. Last year it lent 125K books, movies and e-books and logged 72K visits.
What Wilkes-Barre’s library is like
Osterhout Free Library is used less than most libraries its size
Osterhout Free Library records 0.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people. Borrowing is 0.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2. It also spends less than most: $21 per resident, against a typical $36. How it compares ↓
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
50% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 14%. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
70% of the 801 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 8.8 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Osterhout Free Library holds 196,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years last year. What people borrow ↓
Four places to borrow in Wilkes-Barre
Osterhout Free Library runs four locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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 Wilkes-Barre’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Wilkes-Barre is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns, #733 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Wilkes-Barre is graded on two of the three inputs. Wilkes-Barre’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Osterhout Free Library spends $21 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($36K–$61K) 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 →
185 community nonprofits are registered in Wilkes-Barre
4.2 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 (46 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.2%
4.2% of Wilkes-Barre’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 Wilkes-Barre’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Osterhout Free Library serves 120,502 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
125K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 196K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
23,401 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, 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 Wilkes-Barre last year.
4 places to borrow in Wilkes-Barre
Osterhout Free Library, 71 South Franklin St., Wilkes-Barre.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Wilkes-Barre? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Wilkes-Barre
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wilkes-Barre cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $2.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.6M 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 44,985 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wilkes-Barre | Osterhout Free Library | 1.0 | 57 | C− |
| Plains Township | Plains Township Branch Library | 1.0 | 20 | D− |
| Kingston | Hoyt Library | — | 42 | C− |
| Wilkes-Barre Township | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Edwardsville | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Larksville | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Georgetown | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Hanover Township | None of its own | — | — | D− |
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 Wilkes-Barre
Does Wilkes-Barre have a public library?
Yes. Osterhout Free Library, 71 South Franklin St., serves Wilkes-Barre’s 120,502 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Osterhout 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 Wilkes-Barre’s library?
It logged 0.6 visits and lent 1.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Wilkes-Barre’s civic life grade?
C− Wilkes-Barre is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns on civic life, #733 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 Wilkes-Barre.
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.