Photo: Tyler A. McNeil · CC BY-SA 4.0Colonie’s library lends 4.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
William K Sanford Town Library serves Colonie’s 85,590 residents. Last year it lent 593K books, movies and e-books and logged 201K visits.
Colonie’s library, in brief
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
William K Sanford Town Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Five of the six libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
51% of the 1,046 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 353 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 Colonie’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Colonie is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns, #451 of 751 in New York. Colonie’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($76K–$127K) 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 →
380 community nonprofits are registered in Colonie
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 (58 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 21 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.0%
7.0% of Colonie’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 Colonie’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
William K Sanford Town Library serves 85,590 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 195 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
593K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 131K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.1 times last year, on average.
181,345 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 7 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 Colonie last year.
2 places to borrow in Colonie
William K Sanford Town Library, 629 Albany Shaker Road, Loudonville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Colonie? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Colonie
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.38 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Colonie cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.7M 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 40,911 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Colonie ranks 2nd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clifton Park | Clifton Park-Halfmoon Public Library fine-free | 9.8 | 70 | B |
| Colonie | William K Sanford Town Library | 6.9 | 59 | C+ |
| Watervliet | Watervliet Public Library fine-free | 2.6 | 37 | C− |
| Cohoes | Cohoes Public Library fine-free | 1.9 | 41 | D |
| Albany | Albany Public Library fine-free | — | 48 | A− |
| Guilderland | Guilderland Public Library fine-free | — | 61 | B− |
| Waterford | Waterford Public Library | — | 38 | C− |
| Roessleville | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Halfmoon | None of its own | — | — | D |
| 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 Colonie
Does Colonie have a public library?
Yes. William K Sanford Town Library, 629 Albany Shaker Road, serves Colonie’s 85,590 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 59 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is William K Sanford Town Library 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 Colonie’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 6.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Colonie’s civic life grade?
C+ Colonie is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns on civic life, #451 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 Colonie.
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.