Photo: U.S. Navy photo · Public domainPortsmouth’s library lends 0.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Portsmouth Public Library serves Portsmouth’s 97,883 residents from 4 locations. Last year it lent 1.2M books, movies and e-books and logged 180K visits.
Portsmouth’s library, in brief
Most of Portsmouth’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 94% of loans, more per resident than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 6%. What people borrow ↓
Portsmouth out-borrows every town next door
At 12 loans per resident, Portsmouth leads the six towns here. The closest is Chesapeake, at 5.4. Libraries next door ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 9% of the people Portsmouth Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
People visit, but borrow less than most
Portsmouth Public Library lends 0.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, fewer than 94% of similar-size libraries, though visits are closer to typical. What people borrow ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Portsmouth Public Library holds 212,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
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 Portsmouth’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Portsmouth is ahead of 16% of U.S. towns, #80 of 88 in Virginia. Portsmouth’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($45K–$76K) 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 →
369 community nonprofits are registered in Portsmouth
3.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (104 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 7 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.7%
3.7% of Portsmouth’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 Portsmouth’s residents live; 2022.
94% of borrowing is digital
1.2M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 212K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
1,130,904 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 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Portsmouth Public Library serves 97,883 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 150 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 9 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 Portsmouth last year.
4 places to borrow in Portsmouth
Portsmouth Main Library, 601 Court Street, Portsmouth.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Portsmouth? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Portsmouth
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $6.53 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Portsmouth cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $18M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.8M 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 9,007 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Portsmouth borrows the most per resident of the 6 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portsmouth | Portsmouth Main Library fine-free | 12.3 | 46 | C− |
| Chesapeake | Chesapeake Central Library fine-free | 5.4 | 60 | C− |
| Suffolk | Morgan Memorial Library fine-free | 3.9 | 54 | C− |
| Newport News | Main Street Library fine-free | 2.8 | 56 | D |
| Norfolk | Mary D. Pretlow Anchor Branch Library fine-free | 2.3 | 45 | C− |
| 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 Portsmouth
Does Portsmouth have a public library?
Yes. Portsmouth Public Library, 601 Court Street, serves Portsmouth’s 97,883 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Portsmouth 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 Portsmouth’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 12.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Portsmouth’s civic life grade?
C− Portsmouth is ahead of 16% of U.S. towns on civic life, #80 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 Portsmouth.
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.