Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0Newburgh’s library runs 18 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Newburgh Free Library serves 68,215 people in and around Newburgh. Last year it lent 165K books, movies and e-books and logged 159K visits.
What stands out about Newburgh Free Library Town Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Newburgh’s civic life grade
Newburgh isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Newburgh Free Library serves 68,215 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 45 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Newburgh Free Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
165K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
62,952 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 10 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.
Find it
Newburgh Free Library Town Branch, 181 South Plank Road, Newburgh.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Newburgh Free Library branch.
New in Newburgh? 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 Newburgh cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $5.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.4M 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 19,787 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montgomery | Josephine-Louise Public Library fine-free | 7.3 | 52 | C+ |
| Wappinger | Grinnell Public Library District fine-free | 5.5 | 61 | C− |
| Plattekill | Plattekill Public Library | 3.0 | 49 | B+ |
| Newburgh | Newburgh Free Library Town Branch fine-free | — | 44 | — graded with its twin city |
| Gardnertown | Newburgh Free Library Town Branch fine-free | — | 44 | — graded as part of its town |
| Fishkill | Blodgett Memorial Library District of Fishkill fine-free | — | 40 | C+ |
| Marlborough | Marlboro Free Library fine-free | — | 59 | B− |
| Marlboro | Marlboro Free Library fine-free | — | 59 | — graded as part of its town |
| Balmville | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| New Windsor | None of its own | — | — | C |
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. Newburgh Free Library serves 68,215 people in and around Newburgh, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Newburgh.
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 Newburgh
Does Newburgh have a public library?
Yes. Newburgh Free Library, 181 South Plank Road, serves 68,215 people in and around Newburgh (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Newburgh Free 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 Newburgh’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 2.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Newburgh’s civic life grade?
Newburgh isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Newburgh.
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.