Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Greenwich’s library logs 7.7 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Greenwich Library serves Greenwich’s 63,574 residents from 3 locations. Last year it lent 962K books, movies and e-books and logged 492K visits.
The short version on Greenwich’s library
Greenwich uses its library more than almost any town its size
Greenwich’s library system logs 7.7 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 9.1 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 87% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
47% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 53%. What your card is worth ↓
Top 10% in Connecticut for borrowing
Greenwich ranks #6 of 123 Connecticut towns with a library of their own for items borrowed per resident. Print borrowing alone runs 9.1 items per resident, more than at 87% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
Greenwich invests in its library
Greenwich’s library system spends $171 per resident a year, about four times the typical $40 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
40% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 40% of loans, more per resident than at 98% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 60%, much of it kids’ books. 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.
What’s behind Greenwich’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Greenwich is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns, #46 of 155 in Connecticut. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
432 community nonprofits are registered in Greenwich
6.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (50 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 7 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.7%
4.7% of Greenwich’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.5% in the typical Connecticut 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 Greenwich’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 120 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Greenwich Library serves 63,574 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
40% of borrowing is digital
962K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 287K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2 times last year, on average.
386,253 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 16 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 Greenwich last year.
4 places to borrow in Greenwich
Greenwich Library, 101 West Putnam Ave., Greenwich.
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 Greenwich? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Greenwich
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.40 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Greenwich cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $11M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $15M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $11M 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 23,317 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Greenwich 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greenwich | Greenwich Library fine-free | 15.1 | 63 | B+ |
| Byram | Byram Shubert Branch Library fine-free | 15.1 | 45 | — graded as part of its town |
| North Castle | North Castle Public Library fine-free | 10.5 | 47 | B+ |
| Armonk | North Castle Public Library fine-free | 10.5 | 47 | — graded as part of its town |
| Stamford | Ferguson Library fine-free | 4.5 | 57 | C |
| Old Greenwich | Perrot Memorial Library fine-free | 2.1 | 59 | — graded as part of its town |
| Rye | Port Chester-Rye Brook Public Library | — | 55 | C− |
| Port Chester | Port Chester-Rye Brook Public Library | — | 55 | D |
| Rye Brook | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Glenville | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Pemberwick | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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 Greenwich
Does Greenwich have a public library?
Yes. Greenwich Library, 101 West Putnam Ave., serves Greenwich’s 63,574 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 63 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Greenwich 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 Greenwich’s library?
It logged 7.7 visits and lent 15.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Greenwich’s civic life grade?
B+ Greenwich is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns on civic life, #46 of 155 in Connecticut. 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 Greenwich.
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.