Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0Goshen’s library runs 47 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Goshen Public Library and Historical Society serves 19,260 people in and around Goshen. Last year it lent 131K books, movies and e-books and logged 97K visits.
What stands out about Goshen Public Library and Historical Society
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Goshen’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Goshen is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns, #63 of 751 in New York. Goshen is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Goshen’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
37 community nonprofits are registered in Goshen
6.4 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 (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.
9.9%
9.9% of Goshen’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 Goshen’s residents live; 2022.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.21 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Goshen cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.9M 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 7,084 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Goshen Public Library and Historical Society serves 19,260 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 40 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Goshen Public Library and Historical Society system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
131K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
29,494 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 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
Goshen Public Library and Historical Society, 366 Main Street, Goshen.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Goshen Public Library and Historical Society branch.
New in Goshen? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Goshen Public Library and Historical Society serves 19,260 people in and around Goshen, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Goshen.
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 Goshen
Does Goshen have a public library?
Yes. Goshen Public Library and Historical Society, 366 Main Street, serves 19,260 people in and around Goshen (the survey’s count) and is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Goshen Public Library and Historical Society 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 Goshen’s library?
It logged 5.0 visits and lent 6.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Goshen’s civic life grade?
A Goshen is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns on civic life, #63 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 Goshen.
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.