Valcour Bay · Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0Peru’s library logs 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Peru Free Library serves Peru’s 6,772 residents. Last year it lent 12K books, movies and e-books and logged 7,263 visits.
What Peru’s library is like
Peru Free Library is used less than most libraries its size
Peru Free Library records 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $17 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
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 Peru’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Peru is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns, #695 of 751 in New York. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Peru’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Peru Free Library spends $17 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($76K–$127K) 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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Peru
2.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.0%
6.0% of Peru’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 Peru’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Peru Free Library serves 6,772 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
12K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 16K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
2,107 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
84 programs a year
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 Peru last year.
Find it
Peru Free Library, 3024 Route 22, Peru.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Peru? 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 Peru cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $114K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $199K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $114K 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 2,391 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Peru ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Hero | Worthen Library fine-free | 8.6 | 37 | A |
| Peru | Peru Free Library fine-free | 1.8 | 35 | D |
| Saranac | Dannemora Free Library fine-free | 0.7 | 25 | C− |
| Au Sable | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Schuyler Falls | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Plattsburgh | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Black Brook | 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 Peru
Does Peru have a public library?
Yes. Peru Free Library, 3024 Route 22, serves Peru’s 6,772 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Peru Free 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 Peru’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 1.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Peru’s civic life grade?
D Peru is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns on civic life, #695 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 Peru.
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.