Photo: Juliancolton · Public domainPoughkeepsie’s library runs 37 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Greater Poughkeepsie Library District serves 76,121 people in and around Poughkeepsie. Last year it lent 380K books, movies and e-books and logged 303K visits.
What Poughkeepsie’s library is like
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Greater Poughkeepsie Library District ran 2,822 programs last year, about 54 a week. That’s 37 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Poughkeepsie invests in its library
Greater Poughkeepsie Library District spends $130 per resident a year, about three times the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (91%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Greater Poughkeepsie Library District serves more than Poughkeepsie
The library’s service area covers 76,121 people in and around Poughkeepsie, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
54% of the 2,822 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 771 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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 Poughkeepsie’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Poughkeepsie is ahead of 18% of U.S. towns, #646 of 751 in New York. Poughkeepsie is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($73K–$122K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
99 community nonprofits are registered in Poughkeepsie
2.2 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 (19 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.
6.8%
6.8% of Poughkeepsie’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 Poughkeepsie’s residents live; 2022.
About 15 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Greater Poughkeepsie Library District serves 76,121 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 47 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
380K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 204K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.
119,237 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Boardman Road Branch Library, 141 Boardman Road, Poughkeepsie.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Poughkeepsie? 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 Poughkeepsie cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $9.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $9.9M 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 33,469 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Poughkeepsie ranks 4th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pleasant Valley | Pleasant Valley Free Library | 10.4 | 50 | A− |
| LaGrange | Lagrange Association Library fine-free | 5.5 | 51 | C |
| Wappinger | Grinnell Public Library District fine-free | 5.5 | 61 | C− |
| Poughkeepsie | Boardman Road Branch Library fine-free | 5.0 | 58 | C− |
| Hyde Park | Hyde Park Library District fine-free | 2.8 | 48 | C |
| Marlborough | Marlboro Free Library fine-free | — | 59 | B− |
| Lloyd | Highland Public Library fine-free | — | 43 | B |
| Red Oaks Mill | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| New Hamburg | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Fairview | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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 Poughkeepsie
Does Poughkeepsie have a public library?
Yes. Greater Poughkeepsie Library District, 141 Boardman Road, serves 76,121 people in and around Poughkeepsie (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Greater Poughkeepsie Library District 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 Poughkeepsie’s library?
It logged 4.0 visits and lent 5.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Poughkeepsie’s civic life grade?
C− Poughkeepsie is ahead of 18% of U.S. towns on civic life, #646 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 Poughkeepsie.
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.