Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0West Greenwich’s library lends 5.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Louttit Library serves West Greenwich’s 6,528 residents. Last year it lent 52K books, movies and e-books and logged 19K visits.
What stands out about West Greenwich’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind West Greenwich’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, West Greenwich is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns, #21 of 38 in Rhode Island. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($102K–$170K) 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 →
24 community nonprofits are registered in West Greenwich
3.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.6%
7.6% of West Greenwich’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 West Greenwich’s residents live; 2022.
251 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in West Greenwich last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Louttit Library serves 6,528 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 22 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
52K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 29K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.
13,517 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Louttit Library, 274 Victory Highway, West Greenwich.
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 West Greenwich? 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 $2.21 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average West Greenwich cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $359K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $792K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $359K 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 1,681 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
West Greenwich ranks 3rd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Greenwich | East Greenwich Free Library fine-free | 13.2 | 51 | B |
| Exeter | Exeter Public Library fine-free | 9.2 | 43 | B |
| West Greenwich | Louttit Library fine-free | 7.9 | 45 | C+ |
| Voluntown | Voluntown Public Library fine-free | 5.6 | 30 | B |
| Coventry | Coventry Public Library | 5.1 | 55 | 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 West Greenwich
Does West Greenwich have a public library?
Yes. Louttit Library, 274 Victory Highway, serves West Greenwich’s 6,528 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Louttit 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 West Greenwich’s library?
It logged 2.8 visits and lent 7.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is West Greenwich’s civic life grade?
C+ West Greenwich is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns on civic life, #21 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 West Greenwich.
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.