Caledonia House Hotel · Photo: Pubdog · Public domainCaledonia’s library logs 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Caledonia Library Association serves Caledonia’s 4,154 residents. Last year it lent 16K books, movies and e-books and logged 1,599 visits.
The short version on Caledonia’s library
Every town next door borrows more
Caledonia’s library lends 3.9 items per resident. Each of the four neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Avon at 8.8. Libraries next door ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Caledonia Library Association charges late fines on some overdue items. Five of the six libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Caledonia Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2007. Today’s library there has 10,200 square feet. The building ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
Caledonia Library Association records 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, below 98% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 2.8 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
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 Caledonia’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Caledonia is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns, #619 of 751 in New York. Caledonia’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Caledonia’s 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($59K–$98K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 Caledonia
4.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.2%
6.2% of Caledonia’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 Caledonia’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 2007
Caledonia Library Association, 3108 Main Street, Caledonia.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Caledonia? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Caledonia Library
Caledonia Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Dec 14, 2007. It is significant for its architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Federal and Colonial Revival.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Caledonia Library Association serves 4,154 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
16K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 16K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
4,738 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
90 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 Caledonia last year.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.78 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Caledonia cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $140K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $248K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $140K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 1,803 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Caledonia ranks 5th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avon | Avon Free Library fine-free | 8.8 | 48 | B+ |
| Avon | Avon Free Library fine-free | 8.8 | 48 | B+ |
| Wheatland | Scottsville Free Library | 8.4 | 38 | A− |
| Rush | Rush Public Library fine-free | 7.5 | 43 | B− |
| Caledonia | Caledonia Library Association | 3.9 | 28 | C− |
| Le Roy | Woodward Memorial Library fine-free | — | 47 | A− |
| Pavilion | Hollwedel Memorial Library fine-free | — | 30 | C− |
| York | None of its own | — | — | C |
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. Caledonia Library Association 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 Caledonia
Does Caledonia have a public library?
Yes. Caledonia Library Association, 3108 Main Street, serves Caledonia’s 4,154 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 28 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Caledonia Library Association fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Caledonia’s library?
It logged 0.4 visits and lent 3.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Caledonia’s civic life grade?
C− Caledonia is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns on civic life, #619 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 Caledonia.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.