Photo: Quintaped · CC BY-SA 4.0Arley’s library logs 23 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Arley Public Library serves Arley’s 331 residents. Last year it lent 6,260 books, movies and e-books and logged 7,452 visits.
Arley’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
2,145 cards for 331 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Arley uses its library more than almost any town its size
Arley Public Library logs 23 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 15 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 94% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Five times the programs of a typical library its size
Arley Public Library ran 102 programs last year, about 2 a week. That’s 308 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60. People show up: 1,349 attended. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Arley Public Library serves 331 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 35 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4.4 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 94% of similar-size libraries. It’s 23% of all loans. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Arley’s civic life grade
Arley 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 →
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Arley Public Library serves 331 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
6,260 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
1,442 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
102 programs a year
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 Arley last year.
Find it
Arley Public Library, 6788 County Road 41, Arley.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Arley? 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 $2.59 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Arley cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $49K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $128K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $49K 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 2,145 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits count everyone. Arley’s 7,452 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
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 Arley
Does Arley have a public library?
Yes. Arley Public Library, 6788 County Road 41, serves Arley’s 331 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Arley Public 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 Arley’s library?
It logged 22.5 visits and lent 18.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Arley’s civic life grade?
Arley 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 Arley.
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.