Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0Claverack’s library runs 111 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Claverack Free Library and Reading Room Association serves Claverack’s 4,681 residents. Last year it lent 58K books, movies and e-books and logged 24K visits.
What Claverack’s library is like
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
76% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 21%. What your card is worth ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Claverack Free Library and Reading Room Association ran 518 programs last year, about 10 a week. That’s 111 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 6,870 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4.6 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries. It’s 37% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Claverack Free Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1998. Today’s library there has 11,000 square feet. The buildings ↓
Programs lean toward adults
54% of the 518 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 185 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.
What’s behind Claverack’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Claverack is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns, #40 of 751 in New York. Claverack is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Claverack’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
48 community nonprofits are registered in Claverack
7.9 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.0%
10.0% of Claverack’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 Claverack’s residents live; 2022.
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 Claverack last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Claverack Free Library and Reading Room Association serves 4,681 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 34 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
58K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 20K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.9 times last year, on average.
21,569 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
A National Register landmark since 1998
Claverack Free Library and Reading Room Asso, 9 Route 9h, Claverack.
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 Claverack? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Claverack Free Library
Claverack Free Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jan 7, 1998. It is significant for its architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Colonial Revival. It was listed as part of Claverack MPS.
The Claverack Free Library is located on NY 23B near the center of the hamlet of Claverack-Red Mills, New York, United States. It is located in the renovated former A.B. Shaw Firehouse.
More about the building →Other libraries in Claverack
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.29 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Claverack cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $289K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $951K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $289K 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 2,342 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claverack | Claverack Free Library and Reading Room Asso fine-free | 12.4 | 32 | A |
| Ghent | Chatham Public Library fine-free | — | 45 | A+ |
| Livingston | Livingston Free Library fine-free | — | 16 | A |
| Greenport | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Lorenz Park | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Stottville | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Taghkanic | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Stockport | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Hillsdale | 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.
- 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 Claverack
Does Claverack have a public library?
Yes. Claverack Free Library and Reading Room Association, 9 Route 9h, serves Claverack’s 4,681 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 32 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Claverack Free Library and Reading Room Association 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 Claverack’s library?
It logged 5.2 visits and lent 12.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Claverack’s civic life grade?
A Claverack is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on civic life, #40 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 Claverack.
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.