Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0Menands’ library runs 123 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Menands Public Library serves 3,979 people in and around Menands. Last year it lent 19K books, movies and e-books and logged 6,958 visits.
Menands’s library, in brief
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Menands Public Library ran 489 programs last year, about 9 a week. That’s 123 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
New York pays a big share
37% of the budget comes from the state, and 61% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
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; Menands Public Library serves 3,979 people in and around Menands, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Menands’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Menands is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns, #421 of 751 in New York. Menands’ count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($60K–$101K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for 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 →
29 community nonprofits are registered in Menands
6.5 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.8%
6.8% of Menands’ 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 Menands’ 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 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Menands Public Library serves 3,979 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 Menands Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
19K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
5,045 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Menands Public Library, 4 North Lyons Avenue, Menands.
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 Menands Public Library branch.
New in Menands? 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 $1.74 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Menands cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $169K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $295K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $169K 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 1,681 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Greenbush | North Greenbush Public Library fine-free | 7.0 | 49 | C− |
| Colonie | William K Sanford Town Library | 6.9 | 59 | C+ |
| Menands | Menands Public Library fine-free | — | 28 | C+ |
| Albany | Albany Public Library fine-free | — | 48 | A− |
| Loudonville | 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. Menands Public Library serves 3,979 people in and around Menands, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Menands.
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 Menands
Does Menands have a public library?
Yes. Menands Public Library, 4 North Lyons Avenue, serves 3,979 people in and around Menands (the survey’s count) and is open about 28 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Menands 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 Menands’ library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 4.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Menands’ civic life grade?
C+ Menands is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns on civic life, #421 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 Menands.
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.