Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0New Market’s library is a branch of Shenandoah County Library, which lends less per resident than 60% of systems its size
New Market’s library is the New Market Area Library, a branch of Shenandoah County Library, which serves 44,396 people and lent 186K items last year.
The short version on New Market’s library
Most programs are for young children
80% of the 364 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 3.3 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 9% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
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; New Market’s library is a branch of Shenandoah County Library, so they cover the whole system (44,396 people), not just the New Market branch.
What’s behind New Market’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, New Market is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns. New Market is graded on two of the three inputs. New Market’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in New Market
4.8 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.3%
7.3% of New Market’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.9% in the typical Virginia 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 New Market’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Shenandoah County Library serves 44,396 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Shenandoah County Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
186K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
53,576 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 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
New Market Area Library, 160 East Lee St., New Market.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Shenandoah County Library branch.
New in New Market? 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 $2.15 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average New Market cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.4M 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 4,173 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. New Market Area Library is one branch of Shenandoah County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 44,396 people it serves.
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 New Market
Does New Market have a public library?
Yes: New Market Area Library, 160 East Lee St., is a branch of Shenandoah County Library, which serves 44,396 people. The branch is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Shenandoah County 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 New Market’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 4.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is New Market’s civic life grade?
B New Market is ahead of 60% 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 New Market.
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.