Verbeck House · Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0Ballston’s library lends 8.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Ballston Community Public Library serves Ballston’s 10,780 residents. Last year it lent 114K books, movies and e-books and logged 53K visits.
Ballston’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 55% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 19 items per child in Ballston last year. Kids & programs ↓
Top 10% in New York for kids’ borrowing
Ballston ranks #21 of 241 New York towns with a library of their own for children’s items borrowed per child. How it compares ↓
Ballston out-borrows every town next door
At 10.5 loans per resident, Ballston leads the four towns here. The closest is Clifton Park, at 9.8. Libraries next door ↓
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 Ballston’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Ballston is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns, #109 of 751 in New York. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
61 community nonprofits are registered in Ballston
4.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.8%
9.8% of Ballston’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’s residents live; 2022.
About 6 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 Ballston last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Ballston Community Public Library serves 10,780 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 43 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
114K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 43K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.2 times last year, on average.
18,244 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Ballston Community Public Library, 2 Lawmar Lane, Burnt Hills.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Ballston? 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 $2.30 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ballston cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $764K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $764K 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 5,955 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Ballston borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballston | Ballston Community Public Library fine-free | 10.5 | 51 | A− |
| Clifton Park | Clifton Park-Halfmoon Public Library fine-free | 9.8 | 70 | B |
| Milton | Ballston Spa Public Library fine-free | 7.0 | 38 | A− |
| Malta | Woman's Round Lake Improvement Society | 3.9 | 55 | B |
| Glenville | Glenville Branch fine-free | — | 40 | B |
| Charlton | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Country Knolls | 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.
- 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 Ballston
Does Ballston have a public library?
Yes. Ballston Community Public Library, 2 Lawmar Lane, serves Ballston’s 10,780 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ballston Community 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’s library?
It logged 4.9 visits and lent 10.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Ballston’s civic life grade?
A− Ballston is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns on civic life, #109 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.
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.