Wilson’s library logs 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Mary Meuser Memorial Library serves 16,450 people in and around Wilson. Last year it lent 35K books, movies and e-books and logged 15K visits.
The short version on Wilson’s library
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
26% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 56%. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
72% of the 203 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2 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; Mary Meuser Memorial Library serves 16,450 people in and around Wilson, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Wilson’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Wilson is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns, #1,018 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Wilson is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Mary Meuser Memorial Library spends $18 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($62K–$104K) 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 →
Wilson has few registered community nonprofits
0.1 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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.3%
5.3% of Wilson’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 Wilson’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Mary Meuser Memorial Library serves 16,450 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mary Meuser Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
35K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,623 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, 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
Mary Meuser Memorial Library, 1803 Northampton St., Easton.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Mary Meuser Memorial Library branch.
New in Wilson? 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 $1.84 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wilson cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $294K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $542K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $294K 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 8,321 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wilson | Mary Meuser Memorial Library fine-free | — | 44 | D− |
| Palmer Township | Palmer Library fine-free | — | 51 | D |
| Easton | Easton Area Public Library fine-free | — | 61 | C+ |
| West Easton | 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.
- System-wide. Mary Meuser Memorial Library serves 16,450 people in and around Wilson, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Wilson.
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 Wilson
Does Wilson have a public library?
Yes. Mary Meuser Memorial Library, 1803 Northampton St., serves 16,450 people in and around Wilson (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mary Meuser Memorial 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 Wilson’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 2.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Wilson’s civic life grade?
D− Wilson is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns on civic life, #1,018 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 Wilson.
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.