Photo: Steve Carrea · Public domainWhite Plains’ library logs 5.7 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
White Plains Public Library serves White Plains’s 59,559 residents. Last year it lent 499K books, movies and e-books and logged 341K visits.
White Plains’s library, in brief
Most of White Plains’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 53% of loans, more per resident than at 95% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 47%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
People come to White Plains Public Library a lot
White Plains Public Library logs 5.7 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 91% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 3.9 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
A place to get online
White Plains Public Library logs about 1,530 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 52 public computers. That’s 9.4 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
White Plains invests in its library
White Plains Public Library spends $103 per resident a year, about twice the typical $40 for a library its size. All of it comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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 White Plains’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, White Plains is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns, #318 of 751 in New York. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
292 community nonprofits are registered in White Plains
4.8 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 (70 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 20 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.2%
5.2% of White Plains’ 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 White Plains’ residents live; 2022.
53% of borrowing is digital
499K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 208K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
265,540 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
White Plains Public Library serves 59,559 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 160 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 8 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 White Plains last year.
Find it
White Plains Public Library, 100 Martine Avenue, White Plains.
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 White Plains? 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 $1.51 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average White Plains cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $6.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $9.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6.1M 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 19,830 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
White Plains ranks 3rd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scarsdale | Scarsdale Public Library fine-free | 16.8 | 62 | B+ |
| North Castle | North Castle Public Library fine-free | 10.5 | 47 | B+ |
| White Plains | White Plains Public Library fine-free | 8.4 | 60 | B |
| Harrison | Harrison Public Library fine-free | 8.1 | 55 | B− |
| Harrison | Harrison Public Library fine-free | 8.1 | 55 | — graded with its twin city |
| Greenburgh | Greenburgh Public Library fine-free | — | 53 | 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.
- 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 White Plains
Does White Plains have a public library?
Yes. White Plains Public Library, 100 Martine Avenue, serves White Plains’ 59,559 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is White Plains 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 White Plains’ library?
It logged 5.7 visits and lent 8.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is White Plains’ civic life grade?
B White Plains is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns on civic life, #318 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 White Plains.
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.