Fort Crailo · Photo: UpstateNYer · CC BY-SA 3.0Rensselaer’s library runs 6.6 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Rensselaer Public Library serves Rensselaer’s 9,210 residents. Last year it lent 25K books, movies and e-books and logged 16K visits.
Rensselaer’s library, in brief
Few programs for a library this size
Rensselaer Public Library offered 61 programs last year, 6.6 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Rensselaer Public Library spends $15 per resident, less than 91% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Rensselaer Public Library holds 26,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years last year. What people borrow ↓
40% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 40% of loans. Print still makes up 60%. What people borrow ↓
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’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Rensselaer is ahead of 18% of U.S. towns, #646 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.
Rensselaer Public Library spends $15 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size, and its 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($53K–$88K) 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 →
26 community nonprofits are registered in Rensselaer
2.8 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.6%
6.6% of Rensselaer’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 Rensselaer’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Rensselaer Public Library serves 9,210 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
40% of borrowing is digital
25K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 26K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
9,783 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
61 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Rensselaer last year.
Find it
Rensselaer Public Library, 676 East Street, Rensselaer.
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? 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 $3.25 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rensselaer cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $141K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $458K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $141K 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 6,855 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Rensselaer ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Greenbush | East Greenbush Community Library fine-free | 22.4 | 63 | B+ |
| North Greenbush | North Greenbush Public Library fine-free | 7.0 | 49 | C− |
| Rensselaer | Rensselaer Public Library fine-free | 2.7 | 43 | C− |
| Albany | Albany Public Library fine-free | — | 48 | A− |
| Hampton Manor | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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 are a typical-week estimate. Rensselaer Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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
Does Rensselaer have a public library?
Yes. Rensselaer Public Library, 676 East Street, serves Rensselaer’s 9,210 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rensselaer 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 Rensselaer’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 2.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Rensselaer’s civic life grade?
C− Rensselaer is ahead of 18% of U.S. towns on civic life, #646 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 Rensselaer.
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.