Irvington’s library logs 9.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Irvington Pub Lib Guiteau Foundation serves Irvington’s 6,652 residents. Last year it lent 109K books, movies and e-books and logged 61K visits.
The short version on Irvington’s library
Irvington uses its library more than almost any town its size
Irvington Pub Lib Guiteau Foundation logs 9.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 10 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 92% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 6.2 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. It’s 38% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Top 10% in New York for borrowing
Irvington ranks #8 of 241 New York towns with a library of their own for items borrowed per resident. Print borrowing alone runs 10 items per resident, more than at 92% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 54% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 20 items per child in Irvington last year. Kids & programs ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Irvington Pub Lib Guiteau Foundation charges late fines on some overdue items. Four of the five libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. 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 Irvington’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Irvington is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns, #8 of 751 in New York. 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 →
53 community nonprofits are registered in Irvington
8.1 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.7%
11.7% of Irvington’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 Irvington’s residents live; 2022.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
109K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 64K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
41,001 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Irvington Pub Lib Guiteau Foundation serves 6,652 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 44 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
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 Irvington last year.
Find it
Irvington Public Library Guiteau Foundation, 12 South Astor Street, Irvington.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Irvington? 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 $1.62 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Irvington cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $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 2,899 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Irvington ranks 2nd 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+ |
| Tarrytown | Warner Library fine-free | 14.4 | 41 | 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.
- 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 Irvington
Does Irvington have a public library?
Yes. Irvington Pub Lib Guiteau Foundation, 12 South Astor Street, serves Irvington’s 6,652 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Irvington Pub Lib Guiteau Foundation 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 Irvington’s library?
It logged 9.2 visits and lent 16.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Irvington’s civic life grade?
A+ Irvington is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns on civic life, #8 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 Irvington.
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.