Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Lewisboro’s library runs 50 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Lewisboro Library serves Lewisboro’s 12,265 residents. Last year it lent 101K books, movies and e-books and logged 69K visits.
The short version on Lewisboro’s library
Most of Lewisboro’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 57% of loans, more per resident than at 96% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 43%. What people borrow ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
37% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 61%. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
50% of the 615 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 242 were for children. 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 Lewisboro’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Lewisboro is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns, #124 of 751 in New York. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Lewisboro’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 →
72 community nonprofits are registered in Lewisboro
6.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: environment & animals.
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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.9%
7.9% of Lewisboro’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 Lewisboro’s residents live; 2022.
57% of borrowing is digital
101K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 47K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
58,208 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 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Lewisboro Library serves 12,265 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 43 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 Lewisboro last year.
Find it
Lewisboro Library, 15 Main Street, South Salem.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Lewisboro? 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 $2.24 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lewisboro cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $716K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $716K 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 4,894 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Lewisboro ranks 5th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Canaan | New Canaan Library | 13.6 | 63 | A− |
| Wilton | Wilton Library Association | 12.7 | 55 | A |
| Ridgefield | Ridgefield Library | 12.5 | 58 | A |
| Pound Ridge | Pound Ridge Library District fine-free | 10.4 | 40 | B− |
| Lewisboro | Lewisboro Library | 8.3 | 45 | A− |
| Somers | The Somers Library fine-free | 7.6 | 47 | B+ |
| North Salem | Ruth Keeler Memorial Library fine-free | 6.9 | 42 | B+ |
| Bedford | Katonah Village Library fine-free | — | 52 | B+ |
| Golden's Bridge | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| West Mountain | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 Lewisboro
Does Lewisboro have a public library?
Yes. Lewisboro Library, 15 Main Street, serves Lewisboro’s 12,265 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lewisboro 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 Lewisboro’s library?
It logged 5.6 visits and lent 8.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Lewisboro’s civic life grade?
A− Lewisboro is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns on civic life, #124 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 Lewisboro.
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.