Cold Spring’s library logs 18 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Julia L. Butterfield Memorial Library serves 2,610 people in and around Cold Spring. Last year it lent 51K books, movies and e-books and logged 46K visits.
The short version on Cold Spring’s library
One of the busiest library systems its size
Julia L. Butterfield Memorial Library logs 18 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 12 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 95% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
More library cards than residents
3,019 cards for 2,610 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Seven times the programs of a typical library its size
Julia L. Butterfield Memorial Library ran 614 programs last year, about 12 a week. That’s 235 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 7.6 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. It’s 39% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 43% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. 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; Julia L. Butterfield Memorial Library serves 2,610 people in and around Cold Spring, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Cold Spring’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Cold Spring is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns. Cold Spring is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Cold Spring’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 →
18 community nonprofits are registered in Cold Spring
9.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
12.2%
12.2% of Cold Spring’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 Cold Spring’s residents live; 2022.
About 1 kids’ program a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
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.
Julia L. Butterfield Memorial Library serves 2,610 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Julia L. Butterfield Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
51K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
19,845 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Julia L. Butterfield Memorial Library, 10 Morris Avenue, Cold Spring.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Julia L. Butterfield Memorial Library branch.
New in Cold Spring? 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 $2.00 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cold Spring cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $403K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $807K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $403K 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 3,019 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold Spring | Julia L. Butterfield Memorial Library fine-free | — | 51 | A+ |
| Nelsonville | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 count everyone. Cold Spring’s 46,046 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
- System-wide. Julia L. Butterfield Memorial Library serves 2,610 people in and around Cold Spring, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Cold Spring.
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 Cold Spring
Does Cold Spring have a public library?
Yes. Julia L. Butterfield Memorial Library, 10 Morris Avenue, serves 2,610 people in and around Cold Spring (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Julia L. Butterfield Memorial 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 Cold Spring’s library?
It logged 17.6 visits and lent 19.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Cold Spring’s civic life grade?
A+ Cold Spring is ahead of 98% 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 Cold Spring.
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.