Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0New Rochelle’s library logs 9.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
New Rochelle Public Library serves 79,726 people in and around New Rochelle from 2 locations. Last year it lent 286K books, movies and e-books and logged 752K visits.
New Rochelle’s library, in brief
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 99% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 26%. The building also logs about 22 Wi-Fi sessions a day. Program attendance beats 76% of similar libraries. A year at the library ↓
48% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 48% of loans, more per resident than at 65% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 52%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 61% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 64% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. What people borrow ↓
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 Rochelle Public Library serves 79,726 people in and around New Rochelle, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind New Rochelle’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, New Rochelle is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns, #429 of 751 in New York. Library visits hold 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 →
257 community nonprofits are registered in New Rochelle
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 (83 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 20 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.4%
4.4% of New Rochelle’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 Rochelle’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 53 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole New Rochelle Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
New Rochelle Public Library serves 79,726 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
48% of borrowing is digital
286K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
136,763 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 19 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.
2 places to borrow in New Rochelle
New Rochelle Public Library, One Library Plaza, New Rochelle.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every New Rochelle Public Library branch.
New in New Rochelle? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other New Rochelle Public Library branches in New Rochelle
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average New Rochelle cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $6.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6.6M 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 23,570 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scarsdale | Scarsdale Public Library fine-free | 16.8 | 62 | B+ |
| Mamaroneck | Larchmont Public Library | 16.4 | 56 | B− |
| Larchmont | Larchmont Public Library | 16.4 | 56 | 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+ |
| New Rochelle | New Rochelle Public Library fine-free | — | 60 | C+ |
| Mount Vernon | Mount Vernon Public Library | — | — | D |
| North Hempstead | Westbury Memorial Public Library | — | 71 | B− |
| New York | Brooklyn Public Library fine-free | — | 64 | 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.
- System-wide. New Rochelle Public Library serves 79,726 people in and around New Rochelle, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just New Rochelle.
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 Rochelle
Does New Rochelle have a public library?
Yes. New Rochelle Public Library, One Library Plaza, serves 79,726 people in and around New Rochelle (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is New Rochelle 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 New Rochelle’s library?
It logged 9.4 visits and lent 3.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is New Rochelle’s civic life grade?
C+ New Rochelle is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns on civic life, #429 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 Rochelle.
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.