Blauvelt’s library runs 79 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Blauvelt Free Library serves Blauvelt’s 5,548 residents. Last year it lent 25K books, movies and e-books and logged 27K visits.
What Blauvelt’s library is like
Blauvelt invests in its library
Blauvelt Free Library spends $147 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (93%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
A place to get online
Blauvelt Free Library logs about 84 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 6 public computers. That’s 5.5 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
44% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 44% of loans, more per resident than at 76% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 56%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 59% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 54% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Blauvelt Free Library holds 34,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
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 Blauvelt’s civic life grade
Blauvelt isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Blauvelt cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $816K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $512K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $816K 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 2,681 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Blauvelt Free Library serves 5,548 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
44% of borrowing is digital
25K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 34K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
10,911 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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 Blauvelt last year.
Find it
Blauvelt Free Library, 541 Western Highway, Blauvelt.
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 Blauvelt? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orangeburg | Orangeburg Library | 6.3 | 54 | — graded as part of its town |
| Blauvelt | Blauvelt Free Library fine-free | 4.5 | 54 | — graded as part of its town |
| Pearl River | Pearl River Public Library | — | 61 | — graded as part of its town |
| Orangetown | Pearl River Public Library | — | 61 | B+ |
| Clarkstown | New City Free Library fine-free | — | 65 | B− |
| West Nyack | West Nyack Free Library | — | 62 | — 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 Blauvelt
Does Blauvelt have a public library?
Yes. Blauvelt Free Library, 541 Western Highway, serves Blauvelt’s 5,548 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Blauvelt Free 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 Blauvelt’s library?
It logged 4.9 visits and lent 4.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Blauvelt’s civic life grade?
Blauvelt isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Blauvelt.
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.