Photo: ajay_suresh · CC BY 2.0New Castle’s library is a branch of Chappaqua Central Sch Dist P L, which lends more per resident than 93% of systems its size
New Castle’s library is the Chappaqua Central School District Public Library, a branch of Chappaqua Central Sch Dist P L, which serves 16,829 people and lent 292K items last year.
New Castle’s library, in brief
One of the busiest library systems its size
The Chappaqua Central Sch Dist P L system logs 7.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 11 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 93% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 59% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 6.2 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. It’s 36% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
The Chappaqua Central Sch Dist P L system charges late fines on some overdue items. Eight of the ten libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
A well-funded system
The Chappaqua Central Sch Dist P L system spends $208 per resident a year, about five times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (94%) 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; New Castle’s library is a branch of Chappaqua Central Sch Dist P L, so they cover the whole system (16,829 people), not just the New Castle branch.
What’s behind New Castle’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, New Castle is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns, #102 of 751 in New York. Library visits hold the grade up; New Castle’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
67 community nonprofits are registered in New Castle
3.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.6%
10.6% of New Castle’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 New Castle’s residents live; 2022.
About 11 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Chappaqua Central Sch Dist P L serves 16,829 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 89 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Chappaqua Central Sch Dist P L system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
292K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
104,312 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Chappaqua Central School District Public Library, 195 South Greeley Avenue, Chappaqua.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Chappaqua Central Sch Dist P L branch.
New in New Castle? 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 $1.30 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average New Castle cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $3.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.5M 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 9,105 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yorktown | John C. Hart Memorial Library | 11.1 | 56 | B |
| North Castle | North Castle Public Library fine-free | 10.5 | 47 | B+ |
| Armonk | North Castle Public Library fine-free | 10.5 | 47 | — graded as part of its town |
| Mount Kisco | Mount Kisco Public Library fine-free | 7.7 | 47 | B |
| Mount Pleasant | Mount Pleasant Public Library fine-free | 7.6 | 53 | B+ |
| Somers | The Somers Library fine-free | 7.6 | 47 | B+ |
| New Castle | Chappaqua Central School District Public Library | — | 63 | A− |
| Chappaqua | Chappaqua Central School District Public Library | — | 63 | — graded as part of its town |
| Bedford | Katonah Village Library fine-free | — | 52 | B+ |
| Ossining | Ossining Public Library fine-free | — | 58 | B− |
| Cortlandt | Hendrick Hudson Free Library fine-free | — | 63 | 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.
- System-wide. Chappaqua Central School District Public Library is one branch of Chappaqua Central Sch Dist P L, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 16,829 people it serves.
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 New Castle
Does New Castle have a public library?
Yes: Chappaqua Central School District Public Library, 195 South Greeley Avenue, is a branch of Chappaqua Central Sch Dist P L, which serves 16,829 people. The branch is open about 63 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Chappaqua Central Sch Dist P L 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 New Castle’s library?
It logged 7.7 visits and lent 17.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is New Castle’s civic life grade?
A− New Castle is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns on civic life, #102 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 New Castle.
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.