Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Ridgely’s library lends 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Ridgely Public Library serves 2,051 people in and around Ridgely. Last year it lent 2,530 books, movies and e-books and logged 4,111 visits.
The short version on Ridgely’s library
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, Ridgely Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on six. How it compares ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
The Ridgely branch keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Ridgely Public Library offered 15 programs last year, 7.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
Federal money pays a real share
4% of the budget comes from federal grants, and 74% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
Ridgely Public Library spends $13 per resident, less than 96% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). 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; Ridgely Public Library serves 2,051 people in and around Ridgely, 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 Ridgely’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Ridgely is ahead of 8% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Ridgely Public Library spends $13 per resident, against a typical $54 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($18K–$30K) 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 →
Ridgely has few registered community nonprofits
0.6 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.8%
5.8% of Ridgely’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.7% in the typical Tennessee 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 Ridgely’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Ridgely Public Library serves 2,051 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Ridgely Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
2,530 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
652 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
15 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Ridgely Public Library, 134 N. Main Street, Ridgely.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Ridgely Public Library branch.
New in Ridgely? 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 $2.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ridgely cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $26K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $54K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $26K 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 1,088 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Ridgely Public Library serves 2,051 people in and around Ridgely, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Ridgely.
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 Ridgely
Does Ridgely have a public library?
Yes. Ridgely Public Library, 134 N. Main Street, serves 2,051 people in and around Ridgely (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ridgely Public 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 Ridgely’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 1.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Ridgely’s civic life grade?
D Ridgely is ahead of 8% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Ridgely.
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.