Photo: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:N-Lange.de · CC BY-SA 3.0Ballston Spa’s library logs 7.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Ballston Spa Public Library serves Ballston Spa’s 5,111 residents. Last year it lent 36K print books and media and logged 38K visits.
What stands out about Ballston Spa’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Ballston Spa’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Ballston Spa is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns, #95 of 751 in New York. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank 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 →
20 community nonprofits are registered in Ballston Spa
4.1 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.4%
10.4% of Ballston Spa’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 Ballston Spa’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Ballston Spa Public Library serves 5,111 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Books and media off the shelf
36K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 27K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.
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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Ballston Spa last year.
Find it
Ballston Spa Public Library, 21 Milton Avenue, Ballston Spa.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Ballston Spa? 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 $2.41 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ballston Spa cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $233K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $562K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $233K 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 4,140 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballston Spa | Ballston Spa Public Library fine-free | 7.0 | 38 | A |
| North Ballston Spa | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Ballston Spa Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- 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 Ballston Spa
Does Ballston Spa have a public library?
Yes. Ballston Spa Public Library, 21 Milton Avenue, serves Ballston Spa’s 5,111 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ballston Spa 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 Ballston Spa’s library?
It logged 7.3 visits and lent 7.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Ballston Spa’s civic life grade?
A Ballston Spa is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns on civic life, #95 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 Ballston Spa.
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.