Photo: Chrisfortier at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Poquoson’s library lends 8.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Poquoson Public Library serves Poquoson’s 12,514 residents. Last year it lent 140K books, movies and e-books and logged 64K visits.
What Poquoson’s library is like
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 2.9 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 87% of similar-size libraries. It’s 26% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Virginia pays a big share
20% of the budget comes from the state, and 80% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 51% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 85% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 18 items per child in Poquoson last year. Kids & programs ↓
Poquoson invests in its library
Poquoson Public Library spends $89 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. 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.
What’s behind Poquoson’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Poquoson is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns, #32 of 88 in Virginia. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank 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 →
51 community nonprofits are registered in Poquoson
4.0 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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.0%
8.0% of Poquoson’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 Poquoson’s residents live; 2022.
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 Poquoson last year.
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.
Poquoson Public Library serves 12,514 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 43 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
140K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 64K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.6 times last year, on average.
36,287 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Poquoson Public Library, 500 City Hall Ave., Poquoson.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Poquoson? 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 $1.90 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Poquoson cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.1M 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 4,631 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poquoson | Poquoson Public Library fine-free | 11.2 | 62 | B+ |
| Hampton | Hampton Public Library fine-free | 1.0 | 56 | D |
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 Poquoson
Does Poquoson have a public library?
Yes. Poquoson Public Library, 500 City Hall Ave., serves Poquoson’s 12,514 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Poquoson Public 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 Poquoson’s library?
It logged 5.2 visits and lent 11.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Poquoson’s civic life grade?
B+ Poquoson is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns on civic life, #32 of 88 in Virginia. 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 Poquoson.
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.