Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0Rensselaer Falls’ library logs 1.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Canton Free Library serves 11,638 people in and around Rensselaer Falls. Last year it lent 52K books, movies and e-books and logged 21K visits.
What Rensselaer Falls’s library is like
Open only about 6 hours a week
Canton Free Library keeps short hours: about 6 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Programs are almost all for children
83% of the 204 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.5 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Canton Free Library serves more than Rensselaer Falls
The library’s service area covers 11,638 people in and around Rensselaer Falls, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. 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 Rensselaer Falls’ civic life grade
Rensselaer Falls isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Canton Free Library serves 11,638 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
52K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 46K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
7,587 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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.
Find it
Rensselaer Falls (Branch of Canton), 212 Rensselaer Street, Rensselaer 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 Rensselaer Falls? 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 $1.38 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rensselaer Falls cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $569K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $786K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $569K 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 4,445 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Rensselaer Falls
Does Rensselaer Falls have a public library?
Yes. Canton Free Library, 212 Rensselaer Street, serves 11,638 people in and around Rensselaer Falls (the survey’s count) and is open about 6 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Canton 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 Rensselaer Falls’ library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 4.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Rensselaer Falls’ civic life grade?
Rensselaer Falls isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Rensselaer Falls.
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.