Photo: Jakec · CC BY-SA 4.0Ringtown’s library lends 5.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Ringtown Area Library serves 1,949 people in and around Ringtown. Last year it lent 11K books, movies and e-books and logged 9,082 visits.
The short version on Ringtown’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
73% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 17%. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
71% of the 141 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.7 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 2% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 77% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; Ringtown Area Library serves 1,949 people in and around Ringtown, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Ringtown’s civic life grade
Ringtown isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Ringtown Area Library serves 1,949 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Ringtown Area Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
11K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
247 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. 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
Ringtown Area Library, 132 W. Main Street, Ringtown.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Ringtown Area Library branch.
New in Ringtown? 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 $1.88 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ringtown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $102K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $191K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $102K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 546 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Ringtown Area Library serves 1,949 people in and around Ringtown, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Ringtown.
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 Ringtown
Does Ringtown have a public library?
Yes. Ringtown Area Library, 132 W. Main Street, serves 1,949 people in and around Ringtown (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ringtown Area Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Ringtown’s library?
It logged 4.7 visits and lent 5.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Ringtown’s civic life grade?
Ringtown isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Ringtown.
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.