Photo: Ser Amantio di Nicolao · CC BY-SA 3.0Fort Edward’s library logs 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Fort Edward Free Library serves Fort Edward’s 3,108 residents. Last year it lent 4,060 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,591 visits.
What Fort Edward’s library is like
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
78% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 21%. What your card is worth ↓
Fort Edward Free Library is used less than most libraries its size
Fort Edward Free Library records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 15% of the people Fort Edward Free Library serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
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 Fort Edward’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Fort Edward is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns, #473 of 751 in New York. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($54K–$90K) 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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Fort Edward
3.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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.
9.9%
9.9% of Fort Edward’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 Fort Edward’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 Edward Free Library serves 3,108 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
4,060 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 18K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
747 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
27 programs a year
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 Fort Edward last year.
Find it
Fort Edward Free Library, 23 East Street, Fort Edward.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Fort Edward? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fort Edward cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $100K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $74K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $100K 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 478 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Edward | Fort Edward Free Library fine-free | 1.3 | 30 | C+ |
| Moreau | 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.
- 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 Fort Edward
Does Fort Edward have a public library?
Yes. Fort Edward Free Library, 23 East Street, serves Fort Edward’s 3,108 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fort Edward 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 Fort Edward’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 1.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Fort Edward’s civic life grade?
C+ Fort Edward is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns on civic life, #473 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 Fort Edward.
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.