Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, New York, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0Gilbertsville’s library lends 9.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Gilbertsville Free Library serves Gilbertsville’s 308 residents. Last year it lent 3,043 print books and media and logged 2,610 visits.
What Gilbertsville’s library is like
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
74% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 18%. What your card is worth ↓
More library cards than residents
365 cards for 308 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Gilbertsville Free Library serves 308 residents with about one full-time staff. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Open only about 19 hours a week
Gilbertsville Free Library keeps short hours: about 19 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Gilbertsville uses its library more than almost any town its size
Gilbertsville Free Library logs 8.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 9.9 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 85% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Gilbertsville’s civic life grade
Gilbertsville 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 →
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Gilbertsville Free Library serves 308 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Books and media off the shelf
3,043 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 7,839 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
41 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.
Find it
Gilbertsville Free Library, 17 Commercial Street, Gilbertsville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Gilbertsville? 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 $1.39 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Gilbertsville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $38K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $53K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $38K 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 365 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. New York libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Gilbertsville
Does Gilbertsville have a public library?
Yes. Gilbertsville Free Library, 17 Commercial Street, serves Gilbertsville’s 308 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 19 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Gilbertsville 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 Gilbertsville’s library?
It logged 8.5 visits and lent 9.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Gilbertsville’s civic life grade?
Gilbertsville 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 Gilbertsville.
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.