Photo: Americasroof · CC BY-SA 3.0Albany’s library lends 8.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Albany Carnegie Public Library serves Albany’s 1,670 residents. Last year it lent 16K books, movies and e-books and logged 4,621 visits.
Albany’s library, in brief
A small-town library
Albany Carnegie Public Library serves 1,670 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 48 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 ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Albany Carnegie Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1990. Today’s library there has 3,600 square feet. The building ↓
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 Albany’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Albany is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns. Albany’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Albany
10.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.8%
8.8% of Albany’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.3% in the typical Missouri town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Albany’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
16K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
2,671 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Albany Carnegie Public Library serves 1,670 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
42 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 Albany last year.
A National Register landmark since 1990
Albany Carnegie Public Library, 101 W Clay St., Albany.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Albany? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Albany Carnegie Public Library
Albany Carnegie Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Feb 23, 1990. It is significant for its architecture and social history at the local level. Its architecture is described as Second Renaissance Revival.
The Carnegie Library of Albany is a Carnegie library in Albany, Missouri, United States, that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was designed by Edmond J. Eckel and opened in 1906.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.96 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Albany cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $132K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $259K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $132K 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 989 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 Albany
Does Albany have a public library?
Yes. Albany Carnegie Public Library, 101 W Clay St., serves Albany’s 1,670 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Albany Carnegie 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 Albany’s library?
It logged 2.8 visits and lent 9.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Albany’s civic life grade?
A− Albany is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns on civic life. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Albany.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.