Photo: PointsofNoReturn · CC BY-SA 3.0Greenburgh’s library runs 28 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Greenburgh Public Library serves 46,436 people in and around Greenburgh. Last year it lent 392K books, movies and e-books and logged 195K visits.
Greenburgh’s library, in brief
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.2 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. It’s 38% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Programs lean toward adults
58% of the 1,323 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 311 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
Greenburgh Public Library spends $102 per resident a year, about twice the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (97%) comes from local taxes. 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; Greenburgh Public Library serves 46,436 people in and around Greenburgh, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Greenburgh’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Greenburgh is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns, #204 of 751 in New York. Greenburgh is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Greenburgh’s count of community nonprofits ranks 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 →
521 community nonprofits are registered in Greenburgh
5.5 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 (77 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 26 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.7%
7.7% of Greenburgh’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 Greenburgh’s residents live; 2022.
About 6 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.
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.
Greenburgh Public Library serves 46,436 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 143 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Greenburgh Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
392K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
150,543 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
6 places to borrow in Greenburgh
Greenburgh Public Library, 300 Tarrytown Road, Elmsford.
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 Greenburgh Public Library branch.
New in Greenburgh? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Greenburgh Public Library branches in Greenburgh
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.32 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Greenburgh cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $4.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.7M 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 15,743 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scarsdale | Scarsdale Public Library fine-free | 16.8 | 62 | B+ |
| Tarrytown | Warner Library fine-free | 14.4 | 41 | A− |
| North Castle | North Castle Public Library fine-free | 10.5 | 47 | B+ |
| White Plains | White Plains Public Library fine-free | 8.4 | 60 | B |
| Mount Pleasant | Mount Pleasant Public Library fine-free | 7.6 | 53 | B+ |
| Greenburgh | Greenburgh Public Library fine-free | — | 53 | B+ |
| Orangetown | Pearl River Public Library | — | 61 | B+ |
| Sleepy Hollow | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Greenville | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Hartsdale | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Valhalla | 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.
- System-wide. Greenburgh Public Library serves 46,436 people in and around Greenburgh, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Greenburgh.
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 Greenburgh
Does Greenburgh have a public library?
Yes. Greenburgh Public Library, 300 Tarrytown Road, serves 46,436 people in and around Greenburgh (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Greenburgh 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 Greenburgh’s library?
It logged 4.2 visits and lent 8.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Greenburgh’s civic life grade?
B+ Greenburgh is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns on civic life, #204 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 Greenburgh.
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.