Belleview · Photo: MarmadukePercy · CC BY-SA 3.0Ridgeway’s library is a branch of Blue Ridge Regional Library, which lends less per resident than 71% of systems its size
Ridgeway’s library is the Ridgeway Branch, a branch of Blue Ridge Regional Library, which serves 80,990 people and lent 196K items last year.
What Ridgeway’s library is like
Few residents carry a card
Only 11% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
Virginia pays a big share
25% of the budget comes from the state, and 75% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
52% of the 1,590 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 714 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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; Ridgeway’s library is a branch of Blue Ridge Regional Library, so they cover the whole system (80,990 people), not just the Ridgeway branch.
What’s behind Ridgeway’s civic life grade
Ridgeway 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 →
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.
Blue Ridge Regional Library serves 80,990 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Blue Ridge Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
196K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
26,384 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
About 14 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
Ridgeway Branch, 900 Vista View Lane, Ridgeway.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Good at every Blue Ridge Regional Library branch.
New in Ridgeway? 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 $1.64 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ridgeway cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2M 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 8,743 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Ridgeway Branch is one branch of Blue Ridge Regional Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 80,990 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 Ridgeway
Does Ridgeway have a public library?
Yes: Ridgeway Branch, 900 Vista View Lane, is a branch of Blue Ridge Regional Library, which serves 80,990 people. The branch is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Blue Ridge Regional 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 Ridgeway’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 2.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Ridgeway’s civic life grade?
Ridgeway 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 Ridgeway.
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.