Photo: Alexisrael · CC BY-SA 3.0Highland Falls’ library lends 6.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Highland Falls Library serves Highland Falls’s 3,684 residents. Last year it lent 34K books, movies and e-books and logged 15K visits.
What stands out about Highland Falls’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Highland Falls’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Highland Falls is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns, #128 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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in Highland Falls
4.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.1%
11.1% of Highland Falls’ 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 Highland Falls’ residents live; 2022.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
34K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 34K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
10,744 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 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Highland Falls Library serves 3,684 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Highland Falls last year.
Find it
Highland Falls Library, 298 Main Street, Highland Falls.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Highland Falls? 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 $1.77 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Highland Falls cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $299K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $529K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $299K 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 2,055 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highland Falls | Highland Falls Library | 9.2 | 42 | A− |
| West Point | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Fort Montgomery | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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 Highland Falls
Does Highland Falls have a public library?
Yes. Highland Falls Library, 298 Main Street, serves Highland Falls’ 3,684 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Highland Falls 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 Highland Falls’ library?
It logged 4.1 visits and lent 9.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Highland Falls’ civic life grade?
A− Highland Falls is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns on civic life, #128 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 Highland Falls.
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.