Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0Red Hook’s library logs 26 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Red Hook Public Library serves 1,975 people in and around Red Hook. Last year it lent 81K books, movies and e-books and logged 52K visits.
What Red Hook’s library is like
More library cards than residents
5,554 cards for 1,975 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Red Hook uses its library more than almost any town its size
Red Hook Public Library logs 26 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 31 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 99% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Red Hook out-borrows every town next door
At 41 loans per resident, Red Hook leads the five towns here. The closest is Rhinebeck, at 12. Libraries next door ↓
Five times the programs of a typical library its size
Red Hook Public Library ran 557 programs last year, about 11 a week. That’s 282 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60. People show up: 7,440 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 51% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. 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 Red Hook’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Red Hook is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns, #24 of 751 in New York. Red Hook is graded on two of the three inputs. Both 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 →
67 community nonprofits are registered in Red Hook
6.1 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
12.9%
12.9% of Red Hook’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 Red Hook’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 35 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Red Hook Public Library serves 1,975 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
81K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 26K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.3 times last year, on average.
21,125 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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.
2 places to borrow in Red Hook
Red Hook Public Library, 7444 South Broadway, Red Hook.
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 Red Hook? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Red Hook
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.15 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Red Hook cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $405K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $405K 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 5,554 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Red Hook 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hook | Red Hook Public Library fine-free | 41.2 | 45 | A+ |
| Rhinebeck | Starr Library fine-free | 11.6 | 48 | A+ |
| Saugerties | Saugerties Public Library fine-free | 6.3 | 44 | B+ |
| Saugerties | Saugerties Public Library fine-free | 6.3 | 44 | B+ |
| Ulster | Town of Ulster Public Library fine-free | 3.6 | 35 | C |
| Glasco | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Milan | None of its own | — | — | A+ |
| Saugerties South | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Clermont | None of its own | — | — | 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.
- Visits count everyone. Red Hook’s 52,094 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
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 Red Hook
Does Red Hook have a public library?
Yes. Red Hook Public Library, 7444 South Broadway, serves 1,975 people in and around Red Hook (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Red Hook Public 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 Red Hook’s library?
It logged 26.4 visits and lent 41.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Red Hook’s civic life grade?
A+ Red Hook is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns on civic life, #24 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 Red Hook.
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.