US Post Office-Clyde · Photo: Jimmy Emerson from Dalton GA · CC BY-SA 2.0Galen’s library logs 6.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Clyde-Savannah Public Library serves 5,521 people in and around Galen. Last year it lent 22K books, movies and e-books and logged 35K visits.
Galen’s library, in brief
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Clyde-Savannah Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. All three libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
72% of the 140 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 39 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; Clyde-Savannah Public Library serves 5,521 people in and around Galen, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Galen’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Galen is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns, #680 of 751 in New York. Galen 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.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($48K–$80K) 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Galen
1.3 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.8%
6.8% of Galen’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 Galen’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Clyde-Savannah Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Clyde-Savannah Public Library serves 5,521 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
22K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,885 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
Clyde-Savannah Public Library, 204 Glasgow Street, Clyde.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Clyde-Savannah Public Library branch.
New in Galen? 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 $1.19 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Galen cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $297K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $354K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $297K 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 1,661 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Butler | Wolcott Public Library fine-free | 13.2 | 31 | B− |
| Rose | Rose Free Library fine-free | 3.1 | 23 | C |
| Galen | Clyde-Savannah Public Library | — | 35 | D |
| Lyons | Lyons Public Library fine-free | — | 47 | A− |
| Savannah | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Junius | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Tyre | 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.
- System-wide. Clyde-Savannah Public Library serves 5,521 people in and around Galen, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Galen.
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 Galen
Does Galen have a public library?
Yes. Clyde-Savannah Public Library, 204 Glasgow Street, serves 5,521 people in and around Galen (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Clyde-Savannah Public 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 Galen’s library?
It logged 6.3 visits and lent 4.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Galen’s civic life grade?
D Galen is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns on civic life, #680 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 Galen.
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.