Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Church · Photo: Jaredcarter1210 · CC BY-SA 4.0Remsen’s library lends 21 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Didymus Thomas Library serves 431 people in and around Remsen. Last year it lent 11K books, movies and e-books and logged 6,113 visits.
The short version on Remsen’s library
More library cards than residents
793 cards for 431 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 ↓
Remsen uses its library more than almost any town its size
Didymus Thomas Library logs 14 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 21 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 95% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 61% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 5.6 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries. It’s 21% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
A small-town library
Didymus Thomas Library serves 431 residents with about 2 full-time staff. 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 ↓
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 Remsen’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Remsen is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns. Remsen 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Remsen
3.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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.
7.8%
7.8% of Remsen’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 Remsen’s residents live; 2022.
53 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Didymus Thomas Library serves 431 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.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
11K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
2,402 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Didymus Thomas Library, 9639 Main Street, Remsen.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Remsen? 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 $2.32 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Remsen cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $74K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $172K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $74K 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 793 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Remsen borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Remsen | Didymus Thomas Library fine-free | 26.3 | 21 | B− |
| Boonville | Erwin Library & Institute fine-free | 8.1 | 32 | B |
| Forestport | Woodgate Free Library fine-free | 2.4 | 20 | C+ |
| Russia | Poland District Public Library fine-free | — | 28 | C− |
| Trenton | Prospect Free Library fine-free | — | 23 | B− |
| Steuben | None of its own | — | — | B |
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 Remsen
Does Remsen have a public library?
Yes. Didymus Thomas Library, 9639 Main Street, serves 431 people in and around Remsen (the survey’s count) and is open about 21 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Didymus Thomas 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 Remsen’s library?
It logged 14.2 visits and lent 26.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Remsen’s civic life grade?
B− Remsen is ahead of 52% 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 Remsen.
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.