Jackson-Aitken Farm · Photo: Vonsky87 · CC BY-SA 3.0Andes’ library lends 2.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Andes Public Library serves Andes’s 1,114 residents. Last year it lent 3,543 books, movies and e-books and logged 4,264 visits.
What Andes’s library is like
A small-town library
Andes Public Library serves 1,114 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 ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
31% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 67%. What your card is worth ↓
Open only about 22 hours a week
Andes Public Library keeps short hours: about 22 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. 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 Andes’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Andes is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Andes’ 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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Andes
6.3 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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.9%
8.9% of Andes’ 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 Andes’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Andes Public Library serves 1,114 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
3,543 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 14K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
468 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
66 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 Andes last year.
Find it
Andes Public Library, 242 Main Street, Andes.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Andes? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Andes cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $87K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $65K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $87K 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 362 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Andes ranks 3rd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delhi | Cannon Free Library fine-free | 3.8 | 36 | A− |
| Middletown | Fairview Public Library | 3.6 | 31 | A |
| Andes | Andes Public Library fine-free | 3.2 | 22 | A− |
| Bovina | Bovina Public Library fine-free | 2.9 | 20 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Colchester | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Hamden | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Hardenburgh | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Andes Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Andes
Does Andes have a public library?
Yes. Andes Public Library, 242 Main Street, serves Andes’ 1,114 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 22 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Andes 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 Andes’ library?
It logged 3.8 visits and lent 3.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Andes’ civic life grade?
A− Andes is ahead of 79% 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 Andes.
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.