Photo: ajay_suresh · CC BY 2.0Ridgefield’s library logs 8.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Ridgefield Library serves Ridgefield’s 24,931 residents. Last year it lent 311K books, movies and e-books and logged 221K visits.
Ridgefield’s library, in brief
Ridgefield uses its library more than almost any town its size
Ridgefield Library logs 8.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 10 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 91% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 57% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 23 items per child in Ridgefield last year. Kids & programs ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Ridgefield Library ran 1,686 programs last year, about 32 a week. That’s 68 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. People show up: 28,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Top 10% in Connecticut for library use
Ridgefield ranks #8 of 123 Connecticut towns with a library of their own for visits per resident. That’s 8.9 visits per resident, more than at 95% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
27% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 73%. What your card is worth ↓
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 Ridgefield’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Ridgefield is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns, #19 of 155 in Connecticut. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
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 →
164 community nonprofits are registered in Ridgefield
6.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.7%
7.7% of Ridgefield’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 Ridgefield’s residents live; 2022.
About 13 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 Ridgefield last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Ridgefield Library serves 24,931 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 103 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
311K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 73K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.5 times last year, on average.
56,899 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Ridgefield Library, 472 Main St., Ridgefield.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Ridgefield? 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 $1.60 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ridgefield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $3.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.1M 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 11,165 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Ridgefield ranks 2nd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wilton | Wilton Library Association | 12.7 | 55 | A |
| Ridgefield | Ridgefield Library | 12.5 | 58 | A |
| Redding | Mark Twain Library fine-free | 10.5 | 51 | A |
| Lewisboro | Lewisboro Library | 8.3 | 45 | A− |
| North Salem | Ruth Keeler Memorial Library fine-free | 6.9 | 42 | B+ |
| Danbury | Danbury Public Library | 3.2 | 51 | D |
| Ridgebury | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| West Mountain | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Branchville | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Georgetown | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Route 7 Gateway | 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 Ridgefield
Does Ridgefield have a public library?
Yes. Ridgefield Library, 472 Main St., serves Ridgefield’s 24,931 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ridgefield 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 Ridgefield’s library?
It logged 8.9 visits and lent 12.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Ridgefield’s civic life grade?
A Ridgefield is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns on civic life, #19 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 Ridgefield.
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.