Photo: Irina S.B. · CC BY 4.0Pound Ridge’s library runs 256 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Pound Ridge Library District serves Pound Ridge’s 5,082 residents. Last year it lent 53K books, movies and e-books and logged 8,353 visits.
Pound Ridge’s library, in brief
Eight times the programs of a typical library its size
Pound Ridge Library District ran 1,300 programs last year, about 25 a week. That’s 256 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 17,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Most of Pound Ridge’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 50% of loans, more per resident than at 97% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 50%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Pound Ridge invests in its library
Pound Ridge Library District spends $176 per resident a year, about four times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (85%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
51% of the 1,300 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 627 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 Pound Ridge’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Pound Ridge is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns, #406 of 751 in New York. Pound Ridge’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
28 community nonprofits are registered in Pound Ridge
5.6 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.5%
7.5% of Pound Ridge’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 Pound Ridge’s residents live; 2022.
About 12 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 Pound Ridge last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Pound Ridge Library District serves 5,082 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 25 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
50% of borrowing is digital
53K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 33K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
26,554 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Pound Ridge Library District, 271 Westchester Avenue, Pound Ridge.
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 Pound Ridge? 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 $1.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Pound Ridge cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $893K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $947K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $893K 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 2,179 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Pound Ridge ranks 3rd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Canaan | New Canaan Library | 13.6 | 63 | A− |
| North Castle | North Castle Public Library fine-free | 10.5 | 47 | B+ |
| Pound Ridge | Pound Ridge Library District fine-free | 10.4 | 40 | B− |
| Lewisboro | Lewisboro Library | 8.3 | 45 | A− |
| Stamford | Ferguson Library fine-free | 4.5 | 57 | C |
| Bedford | Katonah Village Library fine-free | — | 52 | B+ |
| Scotts Corners | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Pound Ridge Library District counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Pound Ridge
Does Pound Ridge have a public library?
Yes. Pound Ridge Library District, 271 Westchester Avenue, serves Pound Ridge’s 5,082 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pound Ridge 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 Pound Ridge’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 10.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Pound Ridge’s civic life grade?
B− Pound Ridge is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns on civic life, #406 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 Pound Ridge.
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.