Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0Montgomery’s library logs 7.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Josephine-Louise Public Library serves 6,818 people in and around Montgomery. Last year it lent 50K books, movies and e-books and logged 50K visits.
Montgomery’s library, in brief
A place to get online
Josephine-Louise Public Library logs about 152 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 9 public computers. That’s 8.1 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
Montgomery invests in its library
Josephine-Louise Public Library spends $92 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. All of it comes from local taxes. 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.
What’s behind Montgomery’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Montgomery is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns, #439 of 751 in New York. Montgomery is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($70K–$116K) 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 →
79 community nonprofits are registered in Montgomery
3.4 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 (18 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.5%
7.5% of Montgomery’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 Montgomery’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
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.
Josephine-Louise Public Library serves 6,818 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
50K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 38K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
14,391 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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.
2 places to borrow in Montgomery
Josephine-Louise Public Library, 5 Scofield Street, Walden.
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 Montgomery? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Montgomery
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.49 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Montgomery cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $630K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $936K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $630K 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 3,159 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montgomery | Josephine-Louise Public Library fine-free | 7.3 | 52 | C+ |
| Shawangunk | Wallkill Public Library fine-free | 3.4 | 50 | C |
| Crawford | Pine Bush Area Public Library District | — | 42 | B− |
| Newburgh | Newburgh Free Library Town Branch fine-free | — | 44 | — graded with its twin city |
| Hamptonburgh | None of its own | — | — | C |
| New Windsor | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Maybrook | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Wallkill | None of its own | — | — | D− |
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 Montgomery
Does Montgomery have a public library?
Yes. Josephine-Louise Public Library, 5 Scofield Street, serves 6,818 people in and around Montgomery (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Josephine-Louise 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 Montgomery’s library?
It logged 7.3 visits and lent 7.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Montgomery’s civic life grade?
C+ Montgomery is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns on civic life, #439 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 Montgomery.
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.