Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0York’s library logs 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
York County Library System - Admin Unit serves 282,763 people in and around York. Last year it lent 895K books, movies and e-books and logged 323K visits.
York’s library, in brief
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
36% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 39%. What your card is worth ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 63% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 55% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; York County Library System - Admin Unit serves 282,763 people in and around York, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind York’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, York is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns, #562 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. York is graded on two of the three inputs. York’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
234 community nonprofits are registered in York
5.2 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 (58 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.4%
4.4% of York’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 York’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
York County Library System - Admin Unit serves 282,763 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 84 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole York County Library System - Admin Unit system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
895K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
254,548 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 22 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
Martin Memorial Library, 159 East Market St., York.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every York County Library System - Admin Unit branch.
New in York? 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 $1.95 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average York cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $6.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $14M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6.9M 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 138,562 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| York | Martin Memorial Library | — | 36 | C |
| Spring Garden Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Valley View | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| West Manchester Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Grantley | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| North York | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Manchester Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Shiloh | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| West York | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Springettsbury Township | None of its own | — | — | 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.
- System-wide. York County Library System - Admin Unit serves 282,763 people in and around York, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just York.
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 York
Does York have a public library?
Yes. York County Library System - Admin Unit, 159 East Market St., serves 282,763 people in and around York (the survey’s count) and is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is York County Library System - Admin Unit 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 York’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 3.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is York’s civic life grade?
C York is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns on civic life, #562 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 York.
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.