Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domainAlfred’s library logs 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Alfred Box of Books Library serves 5,157 people in and around Alfred. Last year it lent 16K books, movies and e-books and logged 6,623 visits.
What Alfred’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, Alfred Box of Books Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 18% of the people Alfred Box of Books Library serves have a library card, against a typical 42% 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.
What’s behind Alfred’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Alfred is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns, #429 of 751 in New York. Alfred is graded on two of the three inputs. Alfred’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls 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 Alfred
4.0 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.8%
6.8% of Alfred’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 Alfred’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Alfred Box of Books Library serves 5,157 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
16K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
4,664 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program a week
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.
Find it
Alfred Box of Books Library, 1 West University Street, Alfred.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Alfred? 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 $1.63 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Alfred cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $153K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $250K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $153K 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 952 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 Alfred
Does Alfred have a public library?
Yes. Alfred Box of Books Library, 1 West University Street, serves 5,157 people in and around Alfred (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Alfred Box of Books 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 Alfred’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 3.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Alfred’s civic life grade?
C+ Alfred is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns on civic life, #429 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 Alfred.
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.