Photo: ajay_suresh · CC BY 2.0Yonkers’ library runs 24 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Yonkers Public Library serves Yonkers’s 211,569 residents from 3 locations. Last year it lent 629K books, movies and e-books and logged 705K visits.
Yonkers’s library, in brief
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 82% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 23%. The building also logs about 219 Wi-Fi sessions a day. Program attendance beats 94% of similar libraries. A year at the library ↓
Every town next door borrows more
Yonkers’s library lends 3 items per resident. Each of the four neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Bronxville at 25. Libraries next door ↓
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Yonkers Public Library ran 5,168 programs last year, about 99 a week. That’s 24 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9. People show up: 124,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Three places to borrow in Yonkers
Yonkers Public Library runs three 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 Yonkers’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Yonkers is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns, #682 of 751 in New York. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #255. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($63K–$104K) 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 →
475 community nonprofits are registered in Yonkers
2.3 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 (157 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 48 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
2.9%
2.9% of Yonkers’ 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 Yonkers’ residents live; 2022.
About 45 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 Yonkers last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Yonkers Public Library serves 211,569 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 76 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
629K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 299K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.
229,097 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
3 places to borrow in Yonkers
Riverfront Library, One Larkin Center, Yonkers.
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 Yonkers? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Yonkers
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Yonkers cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $11M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $11M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $11M 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 67,494 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Yonkers ranks 5th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bronxville | Bronxville Public Library fine-free | 25.0 | 49 | B+ |
| Hastings-on-Hudson | Hastings-On-Hudson Public Library | 13.9 | 49 | A |
| Eastchester | Eastchester Public Library fine-free | 8.2 | 55 | C+ |
| Tuckahoe | Tuckahoe Public Library fine-free | 5.3 | 37 | B− |
| Yonkers | Riverfront Library fine-free | 3.0 | 58 | D |
| Mount Vernon | Mount Vernon Public Library | — | — | D |
| New York | Brooklyn Public Library fine-free | — | 64 | C− |
| Greenburgh | Greenburgh Public Library fine-free | — | 53 | B+ |
| Greenville | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Alpine | 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.
- 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 Yonkers
Does Yonkers have a public library?
Yes. Yonkers Public Library, One Larkin Center, serves Yonkers’ 211,569 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Yonkers 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 Yonkers’ library?
It logged 3.3 visits and lent 3.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Yonkers’ civic life grade?
D Yonkers is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns on civic life, #682 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 Yonkers.
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.