Photo: DanielPenfield · CC BY-SA 3.0Pittsford’s library logs 10 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Pittsford Community Library serves Pittsford’s 30,617 residents. Last year it lent 548K books, movies and e-books and logged 315K visits.
What Pittsford’s library is like
Pittsford uses its library more than almost any town its size
Pittsford Community Library logs 10 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 14 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 95% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Pittsford ranks 4th in New York for kids’ borrowing
Out of 241 New York towns with a library of their own, Pittsford comes 4th for children’s items borrowed per child. It’s also #5 for borrowing and #8 for library use. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 56% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 36 items per child in Pittsford last year. Kids & programs ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Pittsford Community Library ran 1,369 programs last year, about 26 a week. That’s 45 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. People show up: 32,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4.4 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. It’s 24% of all loans. 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.
What’s behind Pittsford’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Pittsford is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns, #67 of 751 in New York. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank 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 →
151 community nonprofits are registered in Pittsford
5.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (14 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.6%
9.6% of Pittsford’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 Pittsford’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 172 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Pittsford Community Library serves 30,617 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
548K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 106K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.9 times last year, on average.
134,139 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 14 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Pittsford last year.
Find it
Pittsford Community Library, 24 State Street, Pittsford.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Pittsford? 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 $5.10 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Pittsford cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $8.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.6M 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 26,039 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Pittsford borrows the most per resident of the 5 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsford | Pittsford Community Library | 17.9 | 61 | A |
| Brighton | Brighton Memorial Library fine-free | 14.9 | 58 | B+ |
| Mendon | Town of Mendon Public Library fine-free | 11.2 | 56 | A− |
| Henrietta | Henrietta Public Library fine-free | 9.6 | 63 | C+ |
| East Rochester | East Rochester Public Library | 6.9 | 46 | B+ |
| Perinton | Fairport Public Library | — | 53 | 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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Pittsford
Does Pittsford have a public library?
Yes. Pittsford Community Library, 24 State Street, serves Pittsford’s 30,617 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pittsford Community 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 Pittsford’s library?
It logged 10.3 visits and lent 17.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Pittsford’s civic life grade?
A Pittsford is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns on civic life, #67 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 Pittsford.
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.