Dobbs Ferry’s library runs 72 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Dobbs Ferry Public Library serves Dobbs Ferry’s 11,541 residents. Last year it lent 75K books, movies and e-books and logged 29K visits.
What Dobbs Ferry’s library is like
Every town next door borrows more
Dobbs Ferry’s library lends 6.5 items per resident. Each of the three neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Ardsley at 18. Libraries next door ↓
Most of Dobbs Ferry’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 52% of loans, more per resident than at 91% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 48%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Dobbs Ferry Public Library ran 827 programs last year, about 16 a week. That’s 72 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. 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.
What’s behind Dobbs Ferry’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Dobbs Ferry is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns, #226 of 751 in New York. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
60 community nonprofits are registered in Dobbs Ferry
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 (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.0%
10.0% of Dobbs Ferry’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.4% in the typical New York 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 Dobbs Ferry’s residents live; 2022.
About 5 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 Dobbs Ferry last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Dobbs Ferry Public Library serves 11,541 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 29 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
52% of borrowing is digital
75K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 44K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
39,372 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Dobbs Ferry Public Library, 55 Main Street, Dobbs Ferry.
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 Dobbs Ferry? 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 $1.35 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Dobbs Ferry cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $902K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $902K 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 4,263 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Dobbs Ferry ranks 4th of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ardsley | Ardsley Public Library fine-free | 17.6 | 18 | A+ |
| Irvington | Irvington Public Library Guiteau Foundation | 16.4 | 48 | A+ |
| Hastings-on-Hudson | Hastings-On-Hudson Public Library | 13.9 | 49 | A |
| Dobbs Ferry | Dobbs Ferry Public Library fine-free | 6.5 | 50 | B+ |
| Greenburgh | Greenburgh Public Library fine-free | — | 53 | B+ |
| Orangetown | Pearl River Public Library | — | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Dobbs Ferry Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Dobbs Ferry
Does Dobbs Ferry have a public library?
Yes. Dobbs Ferry Public Library, 55 Main Street, serves Dobbs Ferry’s 11,541 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dobbs Ferry 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 Dobbs Ferry’s library?
It logged 2.5 visits and lent 6.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Dobbs Ferry’s civic life grade?
B+ Dobbs Ferry is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns on civic life, #226 of 751 in New York. 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 Dobbs Ferry.
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.