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Dansville Branch Library · part of Capital Area District Library

Dansville’s library is a branch of Capital Area District Library, which lends more per resident than 83% of systems its size

Dansville’s library is the Dansville Branch Library, a branch of Capital Area District Library, which serves 244,451 people and lent 2.4M items last year.

1379 East Mason Street, Dansville 48819 · about 31 hours a week
–Civic lifeNot graded: fewer than 1,000 residents
Borrowed a year
2.4M
9.8 per resident
Visits a year
752K
3.1 per resident · Above typical (2.1)
Programs & events
3,559
about 68 a week · 29K attended
Cardholders
38%
92,454 cards
Open
31 hrs
a week at this branch

What stands out about Dansville Branch Library

Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Dansville’s civic life grade

Dansville isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.

–
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Dansville’s overall grade.

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 →

★ What stands out · What people borrow

Mostly books and media off the shelf

2.4M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

2.4Mloans
Books & media (adults) 48%Kids’ books & media 21%E-books, audio & streaming 31%
From your couch

739,715 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 3.1 visits · typical 2.1Higher than 79%
Borrowing per resident 6.8 print items · typical 3.2Higher than 83%
Digital borrowing 3 e-items · typical 1.4Higher than 78%
Kids’ borrowing 2.1 kids’ items · typical 1.6Higher than 61%
Program attendance 0.1 attendees · typical 0.2Lower than 83%
Programs offered 14.6 per 1,000 residents · typical 9Higher than 76%
Cardholders 38% of residents · typical 41%Lower than 55%
Spending $55 per resident · typical $36Higher than 71%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Capital Area District Library serves 244,451 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 67 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Capital Area District Library system. The library’s own count.

752K
visits
3.1 per resident
2.4M
loans, print + digital
9.8 per resident
3,559
programs & events
29K attended
92K
library cards
38% of people served
Every open hour67items borrowed
Every week549people at a program
Every day199Wi-Fi sessions
132 staff (full-time equivalent)349 public computers
Kids & programs

About 29 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Dansville →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–51,280
Ages 6–11230
Teens191
Adults1,242
All ages616
Little ones
24.6

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

504K
kids’ books & media borrowed
29K
people at programs
3,559
programs
The building

Find it

Dansville Branch Library, 1379 East Mason Street, Dansville.

31
hours open a week
1,500
square feet
With a card

No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Capital Area District Library branch.

New in Dansville? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.79 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Dansville cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
1
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$384
a year at retail prices · $32 a month

Who pays for it
$55 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $13M.

Local taxes 96%State 2%Gifts & other 2%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $37M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $13M 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 92,454 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • System-wide. Dansville Branch Library is one branch of Capital Area District Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 244,451 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 Dansville

Does Dansville have a public library?

Yes: Dansville Branch Library, 1379 East Mason Street, is a branch of Capital Area District Library, which serves 244,451 people. The branch is open about 31 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Capital Area District 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 Dansville’s library?

It logged 3.1 visits and lent 9.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.

What is Dansville’s civic life grade?

Dansville 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 Dansville.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.