Photo: Alexisrael · CC BY-SA 3.0Orangetown’s library logs 13 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Pearl River Public Library serves 15,574 people in and around Orangetown. Last year it lent 124K books, movies and e-books and logged 205K visits.
The short version on Orangetown’s library
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Pearl River Public Library ran 1,466 programs last year, about 28 a week. That’s 94 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. People show up: 30,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Visits are the system’s strong suit
Pearl River Public Library logs 13 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 99% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 5.5 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
A well-funded system
Pearl River Public Library spends $203 per resident a year, about five times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (96%) 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; Pearl River Public Library serves 15,574 people in and around Orangetown, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Orangetown’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Orangetown is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns, #220 of 751 in New York. Orangetown is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Orangetown’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 →
258 community nonprofits are registered in Orangetown
5.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (60 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 22 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.6%
7.6% of Orangetown’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 Orangetown’s residents live; 2022.
About 9 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.
Pearl River Public Library serves 15,574 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 39 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Pearl River Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
124K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
37,387 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
7 places to borrow in Orangetown
Pearl River Public Library, 80 Franklin Avenue, Pearl River.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Pearl River Public Library branch.
New in Orangetown? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Pearl River Public Library branches in Orangetown
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Orangetown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $3.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.2M 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 10,197 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tarrytown | Warner Library fine-free | 14.4 | 41 | A− |
| Blauvelt | Blauvelt Free Library fine-free | 4.5 | 54 | — graded as part of its town |
| Orangetown | Pearl River Public Library | — | 61 | B+ |
| Clarkstown | New City Free Library fine-free | — | 65 | B− |
| West Nyack | West Nyack Free Library | — | 62 | — graded as part of its town |
| Pearl River | Pearl River Public Library | — | 61 | — graded as part of its town |
| Greenburgh | Greenburgh Public Library fine-free | — | 53 | B+ |
| Nanuet | Nanuet Public Library | — | 59 | — graded as part of its town |
| Nyack | The Nyack Library | — | 57 | A− |
| Ramapo | Finkelstein Memorial Library | — | 65 | D |
| Chestnut Ridge | None of its own | — | — | D |
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. Pearl River Public Library serves 15,574 people in and around Orangetown, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Orangetown.
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 Orangetown
Does Orangetown have a public library?
Yes. Pearl River Public Library, 80 Franklin Avenue, serves 15,574 people in and around Orangetown (the survey’s count) and is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pearl River 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 Orangetown’s library?
It logged 13.1 visits and lent 7.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Orangetown’s civic life grade?
B+ Orangetown is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns on civic life, #220 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 Orangetown.
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.