Park Ridge’s library is a branch of Central Rappahannock Regional Library, which lends more per resident than 82% of systems its size
Park Ridge’s library is the Porter Branch, a branch of Central Rappahannock Regional Library, which serves 347,033 people and lent 2.9M items last year.
What stands out about Porter Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Park Ridge’s civic life grade
Park Ridge isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
2.9M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
629,128 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 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Central Rappahannock Regional Library serves 347,033 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 120 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Central Rappahannock Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
About 41 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
Porter Branch, 2001 Parkway Blvd, Stafford.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Central Rappahannock Regional Library branch.
New in Park Ridge? 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 $3.43 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Park Ridge cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $14M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $46M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $14M 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 31,744 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Park Ridge | Porter Branch fine-free | — | 61 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Hampton Oaks | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Vista Woods | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- System-wide. Porter Branch is one branch of Central Rappahannock Regional Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 347,033 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 Park Ridge
Does Park Ridge have a public library?
Yes: Porter Branch, 2001 Parkway Blvd, is a branch of Central Rappahannock Regional Library, which serves 347,033 people. The branch is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Central Rappahannock Regional 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 Park Ridge’s library?
It logged 3.2 visits and lent 8.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Park Ridge’s civic life grade?
Park Ridge isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Park Ridge.
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.