Pulaski Village Historic District · Photo: Stephen Schweitzer · CC BY-SA 4.0Richland’s library lends 5.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Pulaski Public Library serves 2,186 people in and around Richland. Last year it lent 11K print books and media and logged 6,621 visits.
What Richland’s library is like
More library cards than residents
3,165 cards for 2,186 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 ↓
A place to get online
Pulaski Public Library logs about 62 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 3 public computers. That’s 10 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
Programs lean toward adults
56% of the 131 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 57 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Pulaski Public Library holds 21,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years last year. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Richland’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Richland is ahead of 49% of U.S. towns, #373 of 751 in New York. Richland is graded on two of the three inputs. Richland’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls 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 →
30 community nonprofits are registered in Richland
5.2 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.
6.1%
6.1% of Richland’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 Richland’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Pulaski Public Library serves 2,186 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
11K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 21K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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
Pulaski Public Library, 4917 North Jefferson Street, Pulaski.
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 Richland? 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 $1.20 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Richland cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $216K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $260K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $216K 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 3,165 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Richland ranks 2nd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mexico | Mexico Public Library fine-free | 18.5 | 42 | B |
| Richland | Pulaski Public Library fine-free | 5.1 | 37 | B− |
| Sandy Creek | Annie Porter Ainsworth Memorial Library fine-free | 4.0 | 35 | C+ |
| Orwell | Cogswell Free Library fine-free | 2.1 | 21 | D |
| Albion | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
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.
- Digital loans not reported. New York libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Richland
Does Richland have a public library?
Yes. Pulaski Public Library, 4917 North Jefferson Street, serves 2,186 people in and around Richland (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pulaski 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 Richland’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 5.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Richland’s civic life grade?
B− Richland is ahead of 49% of U.S. towns on civic life, #373 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 Richland.
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.