Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0Philipstown’s library runs 66 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Alice Curtis Desmond & Hamilton Fish Lib serves Philipstown’s 7,221 residents. Last year it lent 37K books, movies and e-books and logged 38K visits.
What Philipstown’s library is like
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
35% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 64%. What your card is worth ↓
Philipstown invests in its library
Alice Curtis Desmond & Hamilton Fish Lib spends $125 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 for a library its size. 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 Philipstown’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Philipstown is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns, #20 of 751 in New York. Philipstown is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Philipstown’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
78 community nonprofits are registered in Philipstown
7.9 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
11.0%
11.0% of Philipstown’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 Philipstown’s residents live; 2022.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Philipstown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $903K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $662K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $903K 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 2,705 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Alice Curtis Desmond & Hamilton Fish Lib serves 7,221 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
37K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 32K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
10,175 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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 Philipstown last year.
2 places to borrow in Philipstown
Alice Curtis Desmond and Hamilton Fish Library, 472 Route 403, Garrison.
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 Philipstown? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Philipstown
Libraries next door
Philipstown ranks 3rd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highlands | Highland Falls Library | 9.2 | 42 | B |
| Kent | Kent Public Library | 5.5 | 46 | B |
| Philipstown | Alice Curtis Desmond and Hamilton Fish Library fine-free | 5.1 | 52 | A+ |
| Putnam Valley | Putnam Valley Free Library fine-free | 3.4 | 44 | B |
| Stony Point | Rose Memorial Library Association fine-free | 1.6 | 47 | C− |
| Fishkill | Blodgett Memorial Library District of Fishkill fine-free | — | 40 | C+ |
| Cortlandt | Hendrick Hudson Free Library fine-free | — | 63 | B+ |
| Cornwall | Cornwall Public Library fine-free | — | 47 | 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 Philipstown
Does Philipstown have a public library?
Yes. Alice Curtis Desmond & Hamilton Fish Lib, 472 Route 403, serves Philipstown’s 7,221 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Alice Curtis Desmond & Hamilton Fish Lib 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 Philipstown’s library?
It logged 5.3 visits and lent 5.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Philipstown’s civic life grade?
A+ Philipstown is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns on civic life, #20 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 Philipstown.
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.