Photo: Stilfehler 16:07, 8 October 2007 (CEST) · CC BY-SA 1.0Amity’s library runs 23 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Free Library of the Belmont Literary and Historical Society serves 856 people in and around Amity. Last year it lent 3,953 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,500 visits.
What Amity’s library is like
A small-town library
Free Library of the Belmont Literary and Historical Society serves 856 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
Free Library of the Belmont Literary and Historical Society keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Belmont Literary and Historical Society Free Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2003. Today’s library there has 8,000 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 Amity’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Amity is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns. Amity is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Amity’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 →
24 community nonprofits are registered in Amity
9.8 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.8%
7.8% of Amity’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 Amity’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 2003
Free Library of the Belmont Literary and Hist, 2 Willets Avenue, Belmont.
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 Amity? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Belmont Literary and Historical Society Free Library
Belmont Literary and Historical Society Free Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jul 5, 2003. It is significant for its architecture, social history and education at the local level. Its architecture is described as Late Victorian and Victorian Eclectic.
Belmont Literary and Historical Society Free Library, also known as Belmont Free Library, is a historic library building located at Belmont in Allegany County, New York. It was built between 1893 and 1904, and is an example of late 19th century vernacular public architecture. It is a two-story, triangular brick structure that features a three-story clock tower.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Free Library of the Belmont Literary and Historical Society serves 856 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
3,953 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 15K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
1,088 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
20 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.04 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Amity cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $64K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $67K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $64K 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 478 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angelica | Angelica Free Library fine-free | 11.9 | 29 | A |
| Amity | Free Library of the Belmont Literary and Hist fine-free | 4.6 | 20 | A− |
| Friendship | Friendship Free Library fine-free | — | 25 | D |
| Scio | Scio Memorial Library fine-free | — | 20 | D |
| Ward | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- 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 Amity
Does Amity have a public library?
Yes. Free Library of the Belmont Literary and Historical Society, 2 Willets Avenue, serves 856 people in and around Amity (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Free Library of the Belmont Literary and Historical Society 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 Amity’s library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 4.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Amity’s civic life grade?
A− Amity is ahead of 85% 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 Amity.
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.