Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY 4.0Cohoes’ library logs 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Cohoes Public Library serves Cohoes’s 18,147 residents. Last year it lent 34K books, movies and e-books and logged 6,397 visits.
The short version on Cohoes’s library
Cohoes Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Cohoes Public Library records 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $10 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Most of Cohoes’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 52% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. What people borrow ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 11% of the people Cohoes Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
52% of the 203 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 66 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 Cohoes’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Cohoes is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns, #678 of 751 in New York. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Cohoes Public Library spends $10 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($46K–$76K) 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 →
56 community nonprofits are registered in Cohoes
3.1 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 (14 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.7%
6.7% of Cohoes’ 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 Cohoes’ residents live; 2022.
52% of borrowing is digital
34K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 33K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
17,545 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Cohoes Public Library serves 18,147 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
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 Cohoes last year.
Find it
Cohoes Public Library, 10 Cayuga Plaza, Cohoes.
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 Cohoes? 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 $3.20 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cohoes cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $187K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $598K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $187K 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 1,981 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Cohoes ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colonie | William K Sanford Town Library | 6.9 | 59 | C+ |
| Troy | Troy Public Library fine-free | 2.9 | 60 | C |
| Cohoes | Cohoes Public Library fine-free | 1.9 | 41 | D |
| Waterford | Waterford Public Library | — | 38 | C− |
| Green Island | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Green Island | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
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 Cohoes
Does Cohoes have a public library?
Yes. Cohoes Public Library, 10 Cayuga Plaza, serves Cohoes’ 18,147 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cohoes 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 Cohoes’ library?
It logged 0.4 visits and lent 1.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Cohoes’ civic life grade?
D Cohoes is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns on civic life, #678 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 Cohoes.
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.