Photo: Patrick Ashley · CC BY 2.0Rochester’s library logs 4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Rochester Public Library serves Rochester’s 211,328 residents from 11 locations. Last year it lent 1.1M books, movies and e-books and logged 843K visits.
What Rochester’s library is like
Every town next door borrows more
Rochester’s library lends 5.2 items per resident. Each of the five neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Brighton at 15. Libraries next door ↓
People come to Rochester Public Library a lot
Rochester Public Library logs 4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, more than 91% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 3.6 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Rochester invests in its library
Rochester Public Library spends $95 per resident a year, about twice the typical $36 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
11 places to borrow in Rochester
Rochester Public Library runs 11 locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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 Rochester’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Rochester is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns, #464 of 751 in New York. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #121. Rochester’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($35K–$59K) 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 →
921 community nonprofits are registered in Rochester
4.4 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 (328 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 32 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.6%
4.6% of Rochester’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 Rochester’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 50 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Rochester Public Library serves 211,328 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1.1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 875K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
340,899 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 23 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 Rochester last year.
11 places to borrow in Rochester
Rochester Public Library, 115 South Avenue, Rochester.
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 Rochester? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Rochester
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rochester cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $18M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2M 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 96,229 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Rochester ranks 6th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brighton | Brighton Memorial Library fine-free | 14.9 | 58 | B+ |
| Irondequoit | Irondequoit Public Library | 8.9 | 55 | B− |
| Gates | Gates Public Library | 8.5 | 59 | C− |
| Chili | Chili Public Library | 8.2 | 64 | C |
| Greece | Greece Public Library | 5.7 | 63 | D |
| Rochester | Rochester Public Library fine-free | 5.2 | 51 | C+ |
| North Gates | 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 Rochester
Does Rochester have a public library?
Yes. Rochester Public Library, 115 South Avenue, serves Rochester’s 211,328 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rochester 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 Rochester’s library?
It logged 4.0 visits and lent 5.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Rochester’s civic life grade?
C+ Rochester is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns on civic life, #464 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 Rochester.
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.