Erie Canal · Public domainFlorida’s library logs 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Fort Hunter Free Library serves 3,604 people in and around Florida. Last year it lent 7,068 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,778 visits.
Florida’s library, in brief
Fort Hunter Free Library is used less than most libraries its size
Fort Hunter Free Library records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $16 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
33% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 63%. What your card is worth ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 8% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
56% of the 103 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 44 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Fort Hunter Free Library spends $16 per resident, less than 90% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
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; Fort Hunter Free Library serves 3,604 people in and around Florida, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Florida’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Florida is ahead of 11% of U.S. towns, #700 of 751 in New York. Florida is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Fort Hunter Free Library spends $16 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($70K–$116K) 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 →
3 community nonprofits are registered in Florida
1.2 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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.6%
6.6% of Florida’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 Florida’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Fort Hunter Free Library serves 3,604 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Fort Hunter Free Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
7,068 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
810 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
103 programs a year
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
Fort Hunter Free Library, 167 Fort Hunter Road, Amsterdam.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Fort Hunter Free Library branch.
New in Florida? 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 $2.10 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Florida cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $56K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $118K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $56K 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 274 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amsterdam | Amsterdam Free Library fine-free | 1.5 | 56 | C+ |
| Florida | Fort Hunter Free Library fine-free | — | 27 | D |
| Duanesburg | Quaker Street Branch fine-free | — | 40 | B+ |
| Mohawk | Frothingham Free Library fine-free | — | 26 | A |
| Rotterdam | Rotterdam Branch fine-free | — | 40 | D |
| Glen | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Amsterdam | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Charleston | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Fort Johnson | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Tribes Hill | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Princetown | 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.
- System-wide. Fort Hunter Free Library serves 3,604 people in and around Florida, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Florida.
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 Florida
Does Florida have a public library?
Yes. Fort Hunter Free Library, 167 Fort Hunter Road, serves 3,604 people in and around Florida (the survey’s count) and is open about 27 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fort Hunter 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 Florida’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 2.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Florida’s civic life grade?
D Florida is ahead of 11% of U.S. towns on civic life, #700 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 Florida.
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.