Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Rodman

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Rodman Public Library

Rodman’s library logs 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size

Rodman Public Library serves Rodman’s 1,197 residents. Last year it lent 4,842 print books and media and logged 1,723 visits.

12509 School Street, Rodman 13682 · about 20 hours a week
DCivic lifeAhead of 7% of U.S. towns. Library visits, nonprofits and volunteering.
Borrowed a year
4,842
4 per resident
Visits a year
1,723
1.4 per resident · Below typical (3.5)
Programs & events
41
about 1 a week · 347 attended
Cardholders
17%
205 cards
Open
20 hrs
a week
In brief

Rodman’s library, in brief

A small-town library

Rodman Public Library serves 1,197 residents with about one 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 ↓

Open only about 20 hours a week

Rodman Public Library keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓

Kids’ books are most of what goes out

Children’s books and media make up 73% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 76% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓

Few residents carry a card

Only 17% of the people Rodman Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓

A place to get online

Rodman Public Library logs about 33 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 2 public computers. That’s 10 sessions per resident a year. 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.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Rodman’s civic life grade

On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Rodman is ahead of 7% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Rodman’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.

D
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Rodman’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 7%
FewerMore
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $62K–$104K (8,938)Ahead of 6%

Rodman Public Library spends $32 per resident, against a typical $54 for libraries its size.

Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($62K–$104K) 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.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be D. Rodman is small (1,151 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

3 community nonprofits are registered in Rodman

2.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation21.30 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans10.82 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services00.07 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health00.07 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17

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.

Volunteering

5.0%

5.0% of Rodman’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 Rodman’s residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 7 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 1.4 visits · typical 3.5Lower than 85%
Borrowing per resident 4 print items · typical 3.9Higher than 52%
Kids’ borrowing 2.9 kids’ items · typical 1.4Higher than 76%
Program attendance 0.3 attendees · typical 0.7Lower than 73%
Programs offered 34.3 per 1,000 residents · typical 60Lower than 67%
Cardholders 17% of residents · typical 54%Bottom 10%
Spending $32 per resident · typical $54Lower than 78%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Rodman Public Library serves 1,197 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out

Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.

1,723
visits
1.4 per resident
4,842
loans, print + digital
4 per resident
41
programs & events
347 attended
205
library cards
17% of people served
Every open hour5items borrowed
Every week7people at a program
Every day33Wi-Fi sessions
1 staff (full-time equivalent)2 public computers4,798 books & media on the shelves
What people borrow

More than half the print loans are kids’ books

4,842 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.

4,842loans
Books & media (adults) 27%Kids’ books & media 73%
How hard the shelves work
1×

Each of the 4,798 books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.

From your couch

Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

41 programs a year

Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.

Schools in Rodman →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–535
Ages 6–113
Teens0
Adults3
All ages0
Little ones
0.7

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

Kids’ books
7

children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Rodman last year.

347
people at programs
41
programs
The building

Find it

Rodman Public Library, 12509 School Street, Rodman.

20
hours open a week
700
square feet
4,798
books & media
With a card

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 Rodman? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.71 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rodman cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
1
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
5
Your card saves you about
$528
a year at retail prices · $44 a month

Who pays for it
$32 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $39K.

Local taxes 97%State 3%Gifts & other 0%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $104K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $39K 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 205 cardholders ÷ 12.

Next door

Libraries next door

Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.

12+ loans per resident8–124–8Under 4No library / shared system
TownLibraryLoans per residentHoursCivic life
AdamsAdams Free Library fine-free4.128C+
RodmanRodman Public Library fine-free4.020D
WatertownNone of its own——D−
PinckneyNone of its own——— under 1,000 residents
LorraineNone of its own——— under 1,000 residents
RutlandNone 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).

How to read these numbers

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 Rodman

Does Rodman have a public library?

Yes. Rodman Public Library, 12509 School Street, serves Rodman’s 1,197 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Rodman 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 Rodman’s library?

It logged 1.4 visits and lent 4.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.

What is Rodman’s civic life grade?

D Rodman is ahead of 7% 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 Rodman.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.