Benjamin Ten Broeck House · Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0Greenville’s library lends 9.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Greenville Public Library serves Greenville’s 3,741 residents. Last year it lent 46K books, movies and e-books and logged 20K visits.
Greenville’s library, in brief
Greenville out-borrows every town next door
At 12 loans per resident, Greenville leads the four towns here. The closest is Westerlo, at 5.6. Libraries next door ↓
More library cards than residents
3,759 cards for 3,741 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Top 10% in New York for borrowing
Greenville ranks #21 of 241 New York towns with a library of their own for items borrowed per resident. Print borrowing alone runs 9.4 items per resident, more than at 89% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 2.8 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 87% of similar-size libraries. It’s 23% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 40% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 85% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 21 items per child in Greenville last year. 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 Greenville’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Greenville is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns, #112 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 →
15 community nonprofits are registered in Greenville
4.0 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. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
11.4%
11.4% of Greenville’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 Greenville’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
46K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 28K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
10,436 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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.
Greenville Public Library serves 3,741 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 21 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
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 Greenville last year.
Find it
Greenville Public Library, 8 North Street, Greenville.
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 Greenville? 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 $4.39 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Greenville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $168K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $739K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $168K 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 3,759 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Greenville 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greenville | Greenville Public Library fine-free | 12.2 | 42 | A− |
| Westerlo | Town of Westerlo Public Library fine-free | 5.6 | 30 | B− |
| Cairo | Cairo Public Library | 5.4 | 36 | B− |
| Coxsackie | Heermance Memorial Library fine-free | 3.0 | 37 | C+ |
| Durham | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
| New Baltimore | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| East Durham | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Greenville Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Greenville
Does Greenville have a public library?
Yes. Greenville Public Library, 8 North Street, serves Greenville’s 3,741 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Greenville Public 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 Greenville’s library?
It logged 5.4 visits and lent 12.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Greenville’s civic life grade?
A− Greenville is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns on civic life, #112 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 Greenville.
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.