Photo: Wapphist · CC BY-SA 4.0Wappinger’s library runs 35 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Grinnell Public Library District serves Wappinger’s 26,672 residents. Last year it lent 146K books, movies and e-books and logged 52K visits.
What Wappinger’s library is like
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Grinnell Public Library District ran 934 programs last year, about 18 a week. That’s 35 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 63% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 70% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Programs lean toward adults
57% of the 934 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 315 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 Wappinger’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Wappinger is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns, #606 of 751 in New York. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($71K–$119K) 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 →
79 community nonprofits are registered in Wappinger
2.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (14 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.0%
7.0% of Wappinger’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 Wappinger’s residents live; 2022.
About 6 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 Wappinger last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Grinnell Public Library District serves 26,672 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 46 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
146K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 43K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.7 times last year, on average.
31,453 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
Find it
Grinnell Public Library District, 2642 East Main Street, Wappingers Falls.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting.
New in Wappinger? 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 $2.46 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wappinger cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $897K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $897K 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 11,217 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Wappinger ranks 3rd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Fishkill | East Fishkill Public Library District fine-free | 6.5 | 58 | C |
| LaGrange | Lagrange Association Library fine-free | 5.5 | 51 | C |
| Wappinger | Grinnell Public Library District fine-free | 5.5 | 61 | C− |
| Poughkeepsie | Boardman Road Branch Library fine-free | 5.0 | 58 | C− |
| Newburgh | Newburgh Free Library Town Branch fine-free | — | 44 | — graded with its twin city |
| Fishkill | Blodgett Memorial Library District of Fishkill fine-free | — | 40 | C+ |
| Myers Corner | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| New Hackensack | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Red Oaks Mill | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| New Hamburg | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Brinckerhoff | 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 Wappinger
Does Wappinger have a public library?
Yes. Grinnell Public Library District, 2642 East Main Street, serves Wappinger’s 26,672 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Grinnell Public Library District fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Wappinger’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 5.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Wappinger’s civic life grade?
C− Wappinger is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns on civic life, #606 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 Wappinger.
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.