Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Albany’s library logs 5.2 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Albany Public Library serves 99,224 people in and around Albany from 7 locations. Last year it lent 526K books, movies and e-books and logged 520K visits.
Albany’s library, in brief
Visits are the system’s strong suit
Albany Public Library logs 5.2 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 89% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is closer to typical, at 3.7 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
88,020 cards for 99,224 people, or 89%. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
Seven branches in Albany
Albany has seven branches of the Albany Public Library, which serves 99,224 people in and around Albany. One card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
A well-funded system
Albany Public Library spends $85 per resident a year, about twice the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (90%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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; Albany Public Library serves 99,224 people in and around Albany, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Albany’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Albany is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns, #115 of 751 in New York. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #17. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Albany’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
726 community nonprofits are registered in Albany
7.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (127 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 44 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.9%
7.9% of Albany’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.4% in the typical New York 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.
Every hour the doors are open, about 35 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Albany Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Albany Public Library serves 99,224 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
526K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
162,786 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 18 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
7 places to borrow in Albany
Albany Public Library, 161 Washington Avenue, Albany.
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 Albany Public Library branch.
New in Albany? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Albany Public Library branches in Albany
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.00 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Albany cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $8.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $8.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $8.4M 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 88,020 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colonie | William K Sanford Town Library | 6.9 | 59 | C+ |
| Rensselaer | Rensselaer Public Library fine-free | 2.7 | 43 | C− |
| Albany | Albany Public Library fine-free | — | 48 | A− |
| Bethlehem | Bethlehem Public Library fine-free | — | 68 | A |
| Guilderland | Guilderland Public Library fine-free | — | 61 | B− |
| Menands | Menands Public Library fine-free | — | 28 | C+ |
| Roessleville | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Westmere | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Loudonville | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Albany Public Library serves 99,224 people in and around Albany, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Albany.
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 Public Library, 161 Washington Avenue, serves 99,224 people in and around Albany (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Albany Public 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 Albany’s library?
It logged 5.2 visits and lent 5.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Albany’s civic life grade?
A− Albany is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns on civic life, #115 of 751 in New York. 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. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.