Photo: TonyTheTiger · CC BY-SA 3.0Amherst’s library lends 7.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Amherst Public Library serves Amherst’s 129,595 residents from 4 locations. Last year it lent 984K print books and media and logged 350K visits.
The short version on Amherst’s library
Busy on a lean budget
Amherst Public Library spends $17 per resident, less than 86% of similar-size libraries (typical: $36). It’s still borrowed from more than 78% of them. What your card is worth ↓
Four places to borrow in Amherst
Amherst Public Library runs four locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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 Amherst’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Amherst is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns, #497 of 751 in New York. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #141. Amherst’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($70K–$117K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
500 community nonprofits are registered in Amherst
3.8 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 (84 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 27 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.6%
6.6% of Amherst’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 Amherst’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
984K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 313K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.1 times last year, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Amherst Public Library serves 129,595 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 110 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 10 kids’ programs 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Amherst last year.
4 places to borrow in Amherst
Amherst Public Library, 350 John James Audubon Pkwyy., Amherst.
No late fees. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Amherst? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Amherst
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $6.75 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Amherst cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $2.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $15M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.3M 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 63,914 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Amherst ranks 2nd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clarence | Clarence Public Library fine-free | 7.8 | 52 | C+ |
| Amherst | Amherst Public Library fine-free | 7.6 | 63 | C+ |
| Tonawanda Town | Kenilworth Branch Library fine-free | 5.1 | 38 | — graded as part of its town |
| Tonawanda | Town of Tonawanda Public Library fine-free | 5.1 | 56 | C− |
| Cheektowaga | Julia Boyer Reinstein Library fine-free | 4.3 | 61 | D |
| Buffalo | Buffalo & Erie County Public Library System fine-free | — | 61 | C+ |
| North Tonawanda | North Tonawanda Public Library | — | 54 | C+ |
| Pendleton | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Eggertsville | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Wheatfield | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Harris Hill | 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.
- Digital loans not reported. New York libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Amherst
Does Amherst have a public library?
Yes. Amherst Public Library, 350 John James Audubon Pkwyy., serves Amherst’s 129,595 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 63 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Amherst Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Amherst’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 7.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Amherst’s civic life grade?
C+ Amherst is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns on civic life, #497 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 Amherst.
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.