Tilden’s library logs 0.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Tilden Public Library serves Tilden’s 750 residents. Last year it lent 252 books, movies and e-books and logged 249 visits.
Tilden’s library, in brief
Tilden Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Tilden Public Library records 0.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 0.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $17 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
Open only about 16 hours a week
Tilden Public Library keeps short hours: about 16 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Federal money pays a real share
24% of the budget comes from federal grants, and 56% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Tilden Public Library serves 750 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 8% of the people Tilden Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
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 Tilden’s civic life grade
Tilden 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 →
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Tilden Public Library serves 750 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Tilden Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
252 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 5,202 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0 time last year, on average.
12 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 Tilden last year.
Find it
Tilden Public Library, 381 Butler Street, Tilden.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Tilden cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $13K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4,569 worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $13K 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 62 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Tilden
Does Tilden have a public library?
Yes. Tilden Public Library, 381 Butler Street, serves Tilden’s 750 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 16 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Tilden Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Tilden’s library?
It logged 0.3 visits and lent 0.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Tilden’s civic life grade?
Tilden 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 Tilden.
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.