Photo: Alexisrael · CC BY-SA 3.0Ramapo’s library runs 22 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Finkelstein Memorial Library serves 135,449 people in and around Ramapo. Last year it lent 653K books, movies and e-books and logged 168K visits.
The short version on Ramapo’s library
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Finkelstein Memorial Library ran 2,970 programs last year, about 57 a week. That’s 22 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 65 hours a week
The Ramapo branch is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year. The buildings ↓
Programs lean toward adults
87% of the 2,970 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 228 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; Finkelstein Memorial Library serves 135,449 people in and around Ramapo, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Ramapo’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Ramapo is ahead of 13% of U.S. towns, #689 of 751 in New York. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #267. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Ramapo’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($62K–$103K) 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 →
523 community nonprofits are registered in Ramapo
3.4 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 (1,294 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 64 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.4%
3.4% of Ramapo’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 Ramapo’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 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 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Finkelstein Memorial Library serves 135,449 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 193 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Finkelstein Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
653K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
64,192 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
3 places to borrow in Ramapo
Finkelstein Memorial Library, 24 Chestnut Street, Spring Valley.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Finkelstein Memorial Library branch.
New in Ramapo? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Finkelstein Memorial Library branches in Ramapo
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.15 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ramapo cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $8.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $9.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $8.6M 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 50,405 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuxedo | Tuxedo Park Library | 10.0 | 60 | — too few inputs |
| Tuxedo | Tuxedo Park Library | 10.0 | 60 | B |
| Haverstraw | Haverstraw Kings Daughters Public Library fine-free | 6.5 | 60 | C |
| Ramapo | Finkelstein Memorial Library | — | 65 | D |
| Clarkstown | New City Free Library fine-free | — | 65 | B− |
| New City | New City Free Library fine-free | — | 65 | — graded as part of its town |
| Nanuet | Nanuet Public Library | — | 59 | — graded as part of its town |
| Pearl River | Pearl River Public Library | — | 61 | — graded as part of its town |
| Orangetown | Pearl River Public Library | — | 61 | B+ |
| Chestnut Ridge | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Hillcrest | 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.
- System-wide. Finkelstein Memorial Library serves 135,449 people in and around Ramapo, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Ramapo.
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 Ramapo
Does Ramapo have a public library?
Yes. Finkelstein Memorial Library, 24 Chestnut Street, serves 135,449 people in and around Ramapo (the survey’s count) and is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Finkelstein Memorial 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 Ramapo’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 4.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Ramapo’s civic life grade?
D Ramapo is ahead of 13% of U.S. towns on civic life, #689 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 Ramapo.
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.