Photo: Jim.henderson · Public domainMount Vernon Public Library serves 73,893 people in and around Mount Vernon
Mount Vernon Public Library serves 73,893 people in and around Mount Vernon.
What’s behind Mount Vernon’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Mount Vernon is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns, #709 of 751 in New York. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so Mount Vernon is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Mount Vernon’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
The survey’s stand-in for Mount Vernon’s 2024 visits carries forward a 2020 figure, so it is left out.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($59K–$98K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
221 community nonprofits are registered in Mount Vernon
3.1 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 (120 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 11 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.1%
3.1% of Mount Vernon’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 Mount Vernon’s residents live; 2022.
A year at Mount Vernon Public Library
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mount Vernon Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits and print loans. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Find it
Mount Vernon Public Library, 28 South First Avenue, Mount Vernon.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Mount Vernon Public Library branch.
New in Mount Vernon? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mount Vernon resident borrows (the library didn’t report its card count for 2024).
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 resident’s month = the library’s yearly loans and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ the 73,893 people it serves ÷ 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bronxville | Bronxville Public Library fine-free | 25.0 | 49 | B+ |
| Pelham | Town of Pelham Public Library | 9.2 | 44 | A |
| Pelham Manor | Town of Pelham Public Library | 9.2 | 44 | B− |
| Eastchester | Eastchester Public Library fine-free | 8.2 | 55 | C+ |
| Yonkers | Riverfront Library fine-free | 3.0 | 58 | D |
| Mount Vernon | Mount Vernon Public Library | — | — | D |
| New York | Brooklyn Public Library fine-free | — | 64 | C− |
| New Rochelle | New Rochelle Public Library fine-free | — | 60 | C+ |
| Pelham | None of its own | — | — | A+ |
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.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Mount Vernon Public Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate carries forward its 2020 figure, so we leave it out and never rank it.
- Not reported for 2024: print loans. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- System-wide. Mount Vernon Public Library serves 73,893 people in and around Mount Vernon, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Mount Vernon.
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 Mount Vernon
Does Mount Vernon have a public library?
Yes. Mount Vernon Public Library, 28 South First Avenue, serves 73,893 people in and around Mount Vernon (the survey’s count).
Is Mount Vernon Public 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 Mount Vernon’s library?
It lent 0.0 items per resident in 2024 (print). Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Mount Vernon’s civic life grade?
D Mount Vernon is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns on civic life, #709 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 Mount Vernon.
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.