Potter Hollow District No. 19 School · Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0Rensselaerville’s library lends 5.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Rensselaerville Public Library serves Rensselaerville’s 1,826 residents. Last year it lent 13K books, movies and e-books and logged 5,767 visits.
Rensselaerville’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
54% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 31%. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Rensselaerville Public Library serves 1,826 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 27 hours a week. 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 Rensselaerville’s civic life grade
On library visits and community nonprofits, Rensselaerville is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns. Rensselaerville is graded on two of the three inputs. Rensselaerville’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Rensselaerville
8.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Rensselaerville Public Library serves 1,826 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.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
13K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 19K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
3,939 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
85 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 Rensselaerville last year.
Find it
Rensselaerville Public Library, 1459 County Route 351, Rensselaerville.
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 Rensselaerville? 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 $1.39 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rensselaerville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $159K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $221K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $159K 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 950 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Rensselaerville ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berne | Berne Public Library fine-free | 9.4 | 40 | B+ |
| Rensselaerville | Rensselaerville Public Library fine-free | 7.3 | 27 | A− |
| Westerlo | Town of Westerlo Public Library fine-free | 5.6 | 30 | B− |
| Broome | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Preston-Potter Hollow | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Durham | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
| Conesville | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 Rensselaerville
Does Rensselaerville have a public library?
Yes. Rensselaerville Public Library, 1459 County Route 351, serves Rensselaerville’s 1,826 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 27 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rensselaerville 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 Rensselaerville’s library?
It logged 3.2 visits and lent 7.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Rensselaerville’s civic life grade?
A− Rensselaerville is ahead of 78% 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 Rensselaerville.
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.