Photo: Dougtone · CC BY-SA 2.0Ripley’s library runs 151 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Ripley Public Library serves 1,934 people in and around Ripley. Last year it lent 4,871 print books and media and logged 12K visits.
What stands out about Ripley Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Ripley’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Ripley is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns. Library visits hold the grade up; Ripley’s count of community nonprofits pulls 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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Ripley
2.9 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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.1%
8.1% of Ripley’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 Ripley’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Ripley Public Library serves 1,934 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Ripley Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
4,871 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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.
Find it
Ripley Public Library, 64 West Main Street, Ripley.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Ripley Public Library branch.
New in Ripley? 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 Ripley cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $126K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $92K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $126K 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 916 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westfield | Patterson Library fine-free | 6.3 | 46 | A |
| Mina | Alexander Findley Community Library fine-free | 6.3 | 22 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Ripley | Ripley Public Library fine-free | — | 44 | B |
| North East Township | None of its own | — | — | 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.
- Digital loans not reported. New York libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Ripley Public Library serves 1,934 people in and around Ripley, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Ripley.
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 Ripley
Does Ripley have a public library?
Yes. Ripley Public Library, 64 West Main Street, serves 1,934 people in and around Ripley (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ripley Public Library 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 Ripley’s library?
It logged 6.2 visits and lent 2.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Ripley’s civic life grade?
B Ripley is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Ripley.
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.