Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 4.0Hurley’s library runs 99 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Hurley Library District serves 2,981 people in and around Hurley. Last year it lent 29K books, movies and e-books and logged 10K visits.
The short version on Hurley’s library
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
38% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 62%. What your card is worth ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Hurley Library District ran 294 programs last year, about 6 a week. That’s 99 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 4,503 attended. 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; Hurley Library District serves 2,981 people in and around Hurley, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Hurley’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Hurley is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns, #107 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 →
30 community nonprofits are registered in Hurley
4.9 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 (5 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.
11.2%
11.2% of Hurley’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 Hurley’s residents live; 2022.
About 3 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.
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.
Hurley Library District serves 2,981 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Hurley Library District system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
29K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
7,355 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
2 places to borrow in Hurley
Hurley Library District, 48 Main Street, Hurley.
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 Hurley Library District branch.
New in Hurley? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Hurley Library District branches in Hurley
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.09 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hurley cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $235K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $490K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $235K 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+ |
| Marbletown | Stone Ridge Public Library fine-free | 12.7 | 43 | A+ |
| Rosendale | Rosendale Library fine-free | 7.4 | 43 | A |
| Olive | Olive Free Library Association fine-free | 3.8 | 39 | A |
| Ulster | Town of Ulster Public Library fine-free | 3.6 | 35 | C |
| Hurley | Hurley Library District fine-free | — | 41 | A− |
| West Hurley | West Hurley Public Library fine-free | — | 20 | — graded as part of its town |
| Zena | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Shokan | 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.
- System-wide. Hurley Library District serves 2,981 people in and around Hurley, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Hurley.
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 Hurley
Does Hurley have a public library?
Yes. Hurley Library District, 48 Main Street, serves 2,981 people in and around Hurley (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hurley Library District 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 Hurley’s library?
It logged 3.5 visits and lent 9.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Hurley’s civic life grade?
A− Hurley is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns on civic life, #107 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 Hurley.
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.