Ashokan-Turnwood Covered Bridge · Photo: JERRYE AND ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Olive’s library runs 97 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Olive Free Library Association serves Olive’s 4,226 residents. Last year it lent 16K print books and media and logged 25K visits.
What Olive’s library is like
Every town next door borrows more
Olive’s library lends 3.8 items per resident. Each of the three neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Woodstock at 13. Libraries next door ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
49% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 51%. What your card is worth ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Olive Free Library Association ran 411 programs last year, about 8 a week. That’s 97 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 6,712 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Programs lean toward adults
67% of the 411 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 85 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Olive Free Library Association holds 39,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
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 Olive’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Olive is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns, #36 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 →
26 community nonprofits are registered in Olive
6.1 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
13.4%
13.4% of Olive’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 Olive’s residents live; 2022.
About 2 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Olive last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Olive Free Library Association serves 4,226 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
16K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 39K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Olive Free Library Association, 4033 Route 28a, West Shokan.
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 Olive? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Olive cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $390K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $331K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $390K 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 2,461 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Olive ranks 4th of 4 for borrowing per resident. 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+ |
| Shandaken | Phoenicia Library fine-free | 7.4 | 30 | A |
| Olive | Olive Free Library Association fine-free | 3.8 | 39 | A |
| Hurley | Hurley Library District fine-free | — | 41 | A− |
| Denning | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Rochester | None of its own | — | — | A |
| 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.
- Digital loans not reported. New York libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Olive
Does Olive have a public library?
Yes. Olive Free Library Association, 4033 Route 28a, serves Olive’s 4,226 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Olive Free Library Association 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 Olive’s library?
It logged 5.9 visits and lent 3.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Olive’s civic life grade?
A Olive is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on civic life, #36 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 Olive.
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.