The New York Public Library

Legal name: The New York Public Library Astor Lenox and Tilden Foundations

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
131887440
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2126210241
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Libraries

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$693,176,891
Expenses
$425,370,648
Assets
$3,093,728,703
Liabilities
$441,555,640

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

62 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ROBERTA DA SILVA PEREIRA (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, LIBRARY FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS)

Highest reported compensation

  • GEETANJALI GUPTA (CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER): $1,595,737 total reported compensation
  • ANTHONY W MARX (TRUSTEE, PRES AND CHIEF EXEC OFFICER): $1,199,884 total reported compensation
  • Bridget Smith (General Counsel and Secretary (Start 1/22/24)): $929,596 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Community Support Resources The Library is here to help our communities to find the resources they need. NYPL has collected a selection of links to help our patrons find important information and help. Explore these categories to find tips for economic resources, health and wellness services, housing information, and more. Learn More. The Library provides books and materials to borrow, programs and classes for all ages, free computers and Wi-Fi, and more at our 92 locations throughout the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island. Find an open location near you. New Sunday Hours at Select Branches As of September 7, five additional NYPL branches are now open seven days a week, thanks to increased funding in the FY26 City budget.

What it reported doing in 2024

The four research centers - the stephen a. Schwarzman building; the thomas yoseloff business center; the schomburg center for research in black culture; and the library for the performing arts - continue to expand access to our collections, welcome new audiences, and inspire the next generation of researchers. During fiscal year 2025, the research centers welcomed approximately 4.2 million on-site patrons and sponsored more than 3,100 programs with almost 155,000 attendees. Library staff responded to 294,000 reference inquiries. The library's collection holds 49 million items, primarily books and book-like materials, but also personal papers, archives, photographs, audio recordings, films, maps, sheet music, prints and clippings. In keeping with our mission to provide free access to information for all, our world-renowned collections are open to all and help solidify both the library and New York city as a home for knowledge and scholarship. (continued on schedule o)

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 73% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 76
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 84
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 65.5%; rating input score 66
  • Program expense ratio: 87.5%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $47.99 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.5%; rating input score 90; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 97.1%; rating input score 97; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 38.6%; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.27; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.1%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.7% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.9% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 8 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 65.5% of revenue deployed · 87.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 34 of 35 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $372.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1.6M · 62 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $32.6M reported
  • Consistency: 44 of 46 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 29 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 4 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 36/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.