Photo: The original uploader was Daniel Case at English Wikipedia. · CC BY-SA 3.0Gardiner’s library runs 143 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Gardiner Library serves Gardiner’s 5,610 residents. Last year it lent 55K books, movies and e-books and logged 24K visits.
Gardiner’s library, in brief
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Gardiner Library ran 802 programs last year, about 15 a week. That’s 143 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 8,023 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Gardiner out-borrows every town next door
At 9.9 loans per resident, Gardiner leads the four towns here. The closest is New Paltz, at 7.2. Libraries next door ↓
45% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 45% of loans, more per resident than at 95% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 55%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
27% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 73%. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
71% of the 802 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 121 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 Gardiner’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Gardiner is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns, #109 of 751 in New York. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
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 →
28 community nonprofits are registered in Gardiner
5.0 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.5%
10.5% of Gardiner’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 Gardiner’s residents live; 2022.
About 2 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 Gardiner last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Gardiner Library serves 5,610 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 22 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
45% of borrowing is digital
55K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 20K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 times last year, on average.
24,801 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Gardiner Library, 133 Farmer's Turnpike, Gardiner.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Gardiner? 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 $2.50 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Gardiner cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $367K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $917K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $367K 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 3,072 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Gardiner borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gardiner | Gardiner Library fine-free | 9.9 | 48 | A− |
| New Paltz | Elting Memorial Library fine-free | 7.2 | 54 | A |
| Shawangunk | Wallkill Public Library fine-free | 3.4 | 50 | C |
| Plattekill | Plattekill Public Library | 3.0 | 49 | B+ |
| Wawarsing | Ellenville Public Library & Museum fine-free | — | 54 | C− |
| Lloyd | Highland Public Library fine-free | — | 43 | B |
| Rochester | None of its own | — | — | A |
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 Gardiner
Does Gardiner have a public library?
Yes. Gardiner Library, 133 Farmer's Turnpike, serves Gardiner’s 5,610 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Gardiner 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 Gardiner’s library?
It logged 4.3 visits and lent 9.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Gardiner’s civic life grade?
A− Gardiner is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns on civic life, #109 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 Gardiner.
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.