Riga Academy · Photo: DanielPenfield · CC BY-SA 4.0Riga’s library logs 4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Newman Riga Library serves Riga’s 5,586 residents. Last year it lent 19K print books and media and logged 22K visits.
Riga’s library, in brief
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
49% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 49%. What your card is worth ↓
Every town next door borrows more
Riga’s library lends 3.3 items per resident. Each of the three neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Wheatland at 8.4. Libraries next door ↓
Most programs are for young children
69% of the 59 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 19 for ages 0–5. 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 Riga’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Riga is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #546 of 751 in New York. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($76K–$126K) 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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Riga
2.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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.
5.7%
5.7% of Riga’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 Riga’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Newman Riga Library serves 5,586 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
19K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 17K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
59 programs a year
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 Riga last year.
Find it
Newman Riga Library, 1 Village Park, Churchville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Riga? 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 $1.35 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Riga cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $215K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $291K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $215K 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 1,515 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Riga ranks 4th of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
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. Newman Riga Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- Digital loans not reported. New York libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Riga
Does Riga have a public library?
Yes. Newman Riga Library, 1 Village Park, serves Riga’s 5,586 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Newman Riga 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 Riga’s library?
It logged 4.0 visits and lent 3.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Riga’s civic life grade?
C Riga is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on civic life, #546 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 Riga.
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.