Photo: Copperhead7 · CC BY 3.0Harrison’s library runs 64 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Harrison Public Library serves 28,218 people in and around Harrison from 2 locations. Last year it lent 229K books, movies and e-books and logged 155K visits.
Harrison’s library, in brief
Five times the programs of a typical library its size
Harrison Public Library ran 1,804 programs last year, about 35 a week. That’s 64 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. People show up: 44,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
People come to Harrison Public Library a lot
Harrison Public Library logs 5.5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 90% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 6.5 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 62% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 84% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Harrison invests in its library
Harrison Public Library spends $105 per resident a year, about twice the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (96%) 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.
What’s behind Harrison’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Harrison is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns, #371 of 751 in New York. Harrison’s count of community nonprofits holds 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 →
151 community nonprofits are registered in Harrison
5.0 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 (16 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.
4.6%
4.6% of Harrison’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 Harrison’s residents live; 2022.
About 18 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.
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.
Harrison Public Library serves 28,218 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 46 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
229K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 88K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.1 times last year, on average.
46,967 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
3 places to borrow in Harrison
Harrison Public Library, 2 Bruce Avenue, Harrison.
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 Harrison? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Harrison
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.25 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Harrison cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3M 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 9,700 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Harrison ranks 6th of 7 for borrowing per resident. 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+ |
| Mamaroneck | Larchmont Public Library | 16.4 | 56 | B− |
| North Castle | North Castle Public Library fine-free | 10.5 | 47 | B+ |
| Rye | Rye Free Reading Room | 9.9 | 62 | B+ |
| White Plains | White Plains Public Library fine-free | 8.4 | 60 | B |
| Harrison | Harrison Public Library fine-free | 8.1 | 55 | B− |
| Mamaroneck | Mamaroneck Public Library District | 6.9 | 50 | B− |
| Rye | Port Chester-Rye Brook Public Library | — | 55 | C− |
| Rye Brook | None of its own | — | — | D− |
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. Harrison 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 Harrison
Does Harrison have a public library?
Yes. Harrison Public Library, 2 Bruce Avenue, serves 28,218 people in and around Harrison (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Harrison 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 Harrison’s library?
It logged 5.5 visits and lent 8.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Harrison’s civic life grade?
B− Harrison is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns on civic life, #371 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 Harrison.
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.