DeRuyter’s library lends 5.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Deruyter Free Library serves 2,270 people in and around DeRuyter. Last year it lent 16K books, movies and e-books and logged 6,491 visits.
The short version on DeRuyter’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
68% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 17%. What your card is worth ↓
Programs are almost all for children
96% of the 83 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 31 for ages 0–5. 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; Deruyter Free Library serves 2,270 people in and around DeRuyter, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind DeRuyter’s civic life grade
DeRuyter isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Deruyter Free Library serves 2,270 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Deruyter Free Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
16K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,273 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 kids’ programs 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.
Find it
Deruyter Free Library, 735 Utica Street, Deruyter.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Deruyter Free Library branch.
New in DeRuyter? 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 $4.61 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average DeRuyter cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $52K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $240K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $52K 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 1,019 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Deruyter Free Library serves 2,270 people in and around DeRuyter, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just DeRuyter.
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 DeRuyter
Does DeRuyter have a public library?
Yes. Deruyter Free Library, 735 Utica Street, serves 2,270 people in and around DeRuyter (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Deruyter Free 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 DeRuyter’s library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 6.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is DeRuyter’s civic life grade?
DeRuyter isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in DeRuyter.
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.