Photo: Beyond My Ken · CC BY-SA 4.0Petersburgh’s library runs 141 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Petersburgh Public Library serves Petersburgh’s 1,372 residents. Last year it lent 13K books, movies and e-books and logged 5,432 visits.
Petersburgh’s library, in brief
Petersburgh out-borrows every town next door
At 9.2 loans per resident, Petersburgh leads the five towns here. The closest is Grafton, at 6.2. Libraries next door ↓
A small-town library
Petersburgh Public Library serves 1,372 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 24 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Above typical on every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, Petersburgh Public Library is above the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, with three in the top 30%. No single number stands out, and none lags far behind. How it compares ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Petersburgh Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. All five libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
61% of the 193 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 62 were for children. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Petersburgh’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Petersburgh is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
5 community nonprofits are registered in Petersburgh
3.8 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.5%
6.5% of Petersburgh’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 Petersburgh’s residents live; 2022.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Petersburgh last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Petersburgh Public Library serves 1,372 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
13K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 28K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
2,409 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Petersburgh Public Library, 69 Main Street, Petersburgh.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Petersburgh? 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 $2.20 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Petersburgh cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $92K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $201K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $92K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 940 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Petersburgh borrows the most per resident of the 5 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petersburgh | Petersburgh Public Library | 9.2 | 24 | B− |
| Grafton | Grafton Community Library fine-free | 6.2 | 26 | B+ |
| Berlin | Berlin Free Town Library fine-free | 4.7 | 22 | C+ |
| Hoosick | Cheney Library fine-free | 4.0 | 38 | B+ |
| Pownal | Solomon Wright Public fine-free | 1.2 | 26 | C+ |
| Bennington | Bennington Free Library fine-free | — | 40 | A |
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 Petersburgh
Does Petersburgh have a public library?
Yes. Petersburgh Public Library, 69 Main Street, serves Petersburgh’s 1,372 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 24 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Petersburgh Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Petersburgh’s library?
It logged 4.0 visits and lent 9.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Petersburgh’s civic life grade?
B− Petersburgh is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Petersburgh.
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.