Photo: Dhsifhdbfidhxuf · CC BY-SA 4.0Willow Grove’s library lends 6.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Upper Moreland Free Public Library serves 26,116 people in and around Willow Grove. Last year it lent 203K books, movies and e-books and logged 38K visits.
What Willow Grove’s library is like
People borrow more than they stay
Borrowing per resident is higher than at 75% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 79%. People come in, pick up their books and go. How it compares ↓
Upper Moreland Free Public Library serves more than Willow Grove
The library’s service area covers 26,116 people in and around Willow Grove, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
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 Willow Grove’s civic life grade
Willow Grove isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Upper Moreland Free Public Library serves 26,116 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 73 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
203K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 64K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.7 times last year, on average.
31,133 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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.
Find it
Upper Moreland Free Public Library, 109 Park Avenue, Willow Grove.
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 Willow 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 $2.75 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Willow Grove cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.1M 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 10,446 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upper Dublin Township | Upper Dublin Public Library fine-free | 15.7 | 63 | A− |
| Willow Grove | Upper Moreland Free Public Library fine-free | 7.8 | 54 | — graded as part of its town |
| Abington Township | Abington Township Public Library fine-free | — | 61 | B+ |
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 Willow Grove
Does Willow Grove have a public library?
Yes. Upper Moreland Free Public Library, 109 Park Avenue, serves 26,116 people in and around Willow Grove (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Upper Moreland Free 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 Willow Grove’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 7.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Willow Grove’s civic life grade?
Willow Grove isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Willow 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.