Photo: Swampyank at English Wikipedia · CC BY 3.0Jamestown’s library lends 7.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Jamestown Philomenian Library serves Jamestown’s 5,559 residents. Last year it lent 65K books, movies and e-books and logged 22K visits.
The short version on Jamestown’s library
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 94% of similar-size libraries. It’s 34% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Rhode Island pays a big share
20% of the budget comes from the state, and 79% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
59% of the 273 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 97 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Jamestown invests in its library
Jamestown Philomenian Library spends $108 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. 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 Jamestown’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Jamestown is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns, #4 of 38 in Rhode Island. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Jamestown’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
52 community nonprofits are registered in Jamestown
9.4 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.9%
7.9% of Jamestown’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.4% in the typical Rhode Island 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 Jamestown’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
65K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 31K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.4 time last year, on average.
22,301 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Jamestown Philomenian Library serves 5,559 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 29 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 2 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 Jamestown last year.
Find it
Jamestown Philomenian Library, 26 North Road, Jamestown.
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 Jamestown? 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 $1.72 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Jamestown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $599K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $599K 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 3,581 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Jamestown ranks 3rd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Kingstown | North Kingstown Free Library | 16.6 | 60 | B+ |
| Narragansett | Maury Loontjens Memorial Library (Narragansett) | 11.6 | 57 | A− |
| Jamestown | Jamestown Philomenian Library fine-free | 11.6 | 48 | A− |
| Newport | Newport Public Library fine-free | 8.8 | 59 | A− |
| Middletown | Middletown Public Library fine-free | 7.9 | 51 | B |
| Portsmouth | Portsmouth Free Public Library fine-free | 6.8 | 55 | B |
| Melville | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Jamestown Philomenian Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Jamestown
Does Jamestown have a public library?
Yes. Jamestown Philomenian Library, 26 North Road, serves Jamestown’s 5,559 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Jamestown Philomenian 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 Jamestown’s library?
It logged 4.0 visits and lent 11.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Jamestown’s civic life grade?
A− Jamestown is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns on civic life, #4 of 38 in Rhode Island. 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 Jamestown.
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.