Photo: Julia Manzerova · CC BY-SA 3.0Hunter’s library lends 7.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Mountain Top Library serves 2,304 people in and around Hunter. Last year it lent 26K books, movies and e-books and logged 14K visits.
Hunter’s library, in brief
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
43% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 57%. What your card is worth ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
2,048 cards for 2,304 people, or 89%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.1 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. It’s 28% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Programs lean toward adults
67% of the 299 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 21 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; Mountain Top Library serves 2,304 people in and around Hunter, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Hunter’s civic life grade
Hunter isn’t graded on civic life: its library is a branch of Mountain Top Library, so there is no town figure for visits and the volunteering estimate doesn’t cover enough of it.
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 Hunter
12.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (8 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.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
26K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
7,203 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 under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Mountain Top Library serves 2,304 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mountain Top Library system. The library’s own count.
299 programs a year
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.
2 places to borrow in Hunter
Mountain Top Library, 6093 Main Street, Tannersville.
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 Mountain Top Library branch.
New in Hunter? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Mountain Top Library branches in Hunter
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.10 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hunter cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $198K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $416K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $198K 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 2,048 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woodstock | Woodstock Public Library Distrcit fine-free | 13.1 | 45 | A+ |
| Shandaken | Phoenicia Library fine-free | 7.4 | 30 | A |
| Cairo | Cairo Public Library | 5.4 | 36 | B− |
| Hunter | Mountain Top Library fine-free | — | 38 | — too few inputs |
| Catskill | Catskill Public Library fine-free | — | 42 | C+ |
| Palenville | Palenville Branch Library fine-free | — | 25 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Jewett | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
| Lexington | 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.
- System-wide. Mountain Top Library serves 2,304 people in and around Hunter, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Hunter.
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 Hunter
Does Hunter have a public library?
Yes. Mountain Top Library, 6093 Main Street, serves 2,304 people in and around Hunter (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mountain Top 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 Hunter’s library?
It logged 6.1 visits and lent 11.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Hunter’s civic life grade?
Hunter isn’t graded on civic life: its library is a branch of Mountain Top Library, so there is no town figure for visits and the volunteering estimate doesn’t cover enough of it. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Hunter.
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.