Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Pittstown’s library lends 1.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Valley Falls Free Library serves Pittstown’s 5,630 residents. Last year it lent 7,994 print books and media and logged 7,783 visits.
Pittstown’s library, in brief
Every town next door borrows more
Pittstown’s library lends 1.4 items per resident. Each of the four neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Schaghticoke at 15. 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 49%. What your card is worth ↓
Valley Falls Free Library is used less than most libraries its size
Valley Falls Free Library records 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $14 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 10% of the people Valley Falls Free Library serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. 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 Pittstown’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Pittstown is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns, #674 of 751 in New York. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Valley Falls Free Library spends $14 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($69K–$115K) 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 →
13 community nonprofits are registered in Pittstown
2.3 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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.9%
6.9% of Pittstown’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 Pittstown’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Valley Falls Free Library serves 5,630 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
7,994 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 7,034 books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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 Pittstown last year.
Find it
Valley Falls Free Library, 42 State Street, Valley Falls.
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 Pittstown? 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 $1.80 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Pittstown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $81K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $145K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $81K 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 580 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Pittstown ranks 5th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schaghticoke | Arvilla E. Diver Memorial Library fine-free | 15.1 | 26 | C− |
| Grafton | Grafton Community Library fine-free | 6.2 | 26 | B+ |
| Brunswick | Brunswick Community Library fine-free | 5.7 | 44 | C− |
| Hoosick | Cheney Library fine-free | 4.0 | 38 | B+ |
| Pittstown | Valley Falls Free Library fine-free | 1.4 | 35 | D |
| Cambridge | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
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 Pittstown
Does Pittstown have a public library?
Yes. Valley Falls Free Library, 42 State Street, serves Pittstown’s 5,630 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Valley Falls 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 Pittstown’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 1.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Pittstown’s civic life grade?
D Pittstown is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns on civic life, #674 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 Pittstown.
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.