Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 4.0North Kingstown’s library lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
North Kingstown Free Library serves North Kingstown’s 19,821 residents. Last year it lent 329K books, movies and e-books and logged 100K visits.
North Kingstown’s library, in brief
North Kingstown out-borrows every town next door
At 17 loans per resident, North Kingstown leads the eight towns here. The closest is East Greenwich, at 13. Libraries next door ↓
North Kingstown is a town of borrowers
North Kingstown Free Library lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 94% of similar-size libraries. Each item on the shelves went out about 2.4 times last year. What people borrow ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4.3 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. It’s 26% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
North Kingstown Free Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Six of the seven libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 43% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 21 items per child in North Kingstown last year. 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 North Kingstown’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, North Kingstown is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns, #9 of 38 in Rhode Island. North Kingstown is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; North Kingstown’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 →
129 community nonprofits are registered in North Kingstown
4.6 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 (18 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.3%
8.3% of North Kingstown’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 North Kingstown’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
329K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 102K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.4 times last year, on average.
85,666 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 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
North Kingstown Free Library serves 19,821 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 106 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 3 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 North Kingstown last year.
3 places to borrow in North Kingstown
North Kingstown Free Library, 100 Boone Street, North Kingstown.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in North Kingstown? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in North Kingstown
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.03 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average North Kingstown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.7M 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 11,877 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
North Kingstown borrows the most per resident of the 8 towns here. 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+ |
| East Greenwich | East Greenwich Free Library fine-free | 13.2 | 51 | B |
| Narragansett | Maury Loontjens Memorial Library (Narragansett) | 11.6 | 57 | A− |
| Jamestown | Jamestown Philomenian Library fine-free | 11.6 | 48 | A− |
| Exeter | Exeter Public Library fine-free | 9.2 | 43 | B |
| South Kingstown | South Kingstown Public Library fine-free | 8.1 | 52 | B |
| Portsmouth | Portsmouth Free Public Library fine-free | 6.8 | 55 | B |
| Warwick | Warwick Public Library fine-free | 6.6 | 57 | C+ |
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 North Kingstown
Does North Kingstown have a public library?
Yes. North Kingstown Free Library, 100 Boone Street, serves North Kingstown’s 19,821 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is North Kingstown Free 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 North Kingstown’s library?
It logged 5.1 visits and lent 16.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is North Kingstown’s civic life grade?
B+ North Kingstown is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns on civic life, #9 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 North Kingstown.
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.