Photo: Novis-M · Public domainBolton’s library logs 8.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Bolton Free Library serves Bolton’s 2,012 residents. Last year it lent 13K books, movies and e-books and logged 18K visits.
The short version on Bolton’s library
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
49% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 50%. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
74% of the 250 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 65 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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 Bolton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Bolton is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns. Bolton’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
18 community nonprofits are registered in Bolton
8.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
3.0%
3.0% of Bolton’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 Bolton’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Bolton Free Library serves 2,012 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
13K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 14K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
4,349 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. 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 Bolton last year.
Find it
Bolton Free Library, 4922 Lakeshore Drive, Bolton Landing.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Bolton? 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 $1.85 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bolton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $117K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $218K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $117K 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 1,633 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Bolton borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bolton | Bolton Free Library fine-free | 6.2 | 40 | B+ |
| Lake George | Caldwell-Lake George Library fine-free | 4.0 | 36 | B |
| Horicon | Horicon Free Public Library | 2.7 | 20 | B− |
| Warrensburg | Richards Library | — | 45 | A− |
| Fort Ann | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Dresden | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Hague | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Queensbury | None of its own | — | — | B |
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. Bolton Free 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 Bolton
Does Bolton have a public library?
Yes. Bolton Free Library, 4922 Lakeshore Drive, serves Bolton’s 2,012 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bolton 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 Bolton’s library?
It logged 8.9 visits and lent 6.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Bolton’s civic life grade?
B+ Bolton is ahead of 70% 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 Bolton.
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.