Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Schodack’s library lends 16 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Castleton Public Library serves 1,477 people in and around Schodack. Last year it lent 32K books, movies and e-books and logged 11K visits.
Schodack’s library, in brief
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Castleton Public Library ran 395 programs last year, about 8 a week. That’s 267 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60. People show up: 4,625 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 53% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Schodack is a town of borrowers
Castleton Public Library lends 16 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 95% of similar-size libraries. Each item on the shelves went out about 2.6 times last year. What people borrow ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 5.7 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries. It’s 26% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Nearly everyone in Schodack has a card
1,266 cards for 1,477 people, or 86%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Schodack’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Schodack is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns, #221 of 751 in New York. Schodack is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Schodack’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
46 community nonprofits are registered in Schodack
3.6 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 (11 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.0%
10.0% of Schodack’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 Schodack’s residents live; 2022.
About 5 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Castleton Public Library serves 1,477 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
32K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 9,309 books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.6 times last year, on average.
8,456 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Castleton Public Library, 85 South Main Street, Castleton-On-Hudson.
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 Schodack? 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 $2.17 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Schodack cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $250K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $542K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $250K 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 1,266 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Schodack ranks 2nd of 5 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+ |
| Schodack | Castleton Public Library fine-free | 21.9 | 50 | B+ |
| Sand Lake | Sand Lake Town Library | 6.4 | 43 | B− |
| Nassau | Nassau Free Library fine-free | 5.2 | 40 | C |
| Nassau | Nassau Free Library fine-free | 5.2 | 40 | B− |
| Coeymans | Rcs Community Library fine-free | — | 56 | B− |
| Bethlehem | Bethlehem Public Library fine-free | — | 68 | A |
| Nassau Lake | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Stuyvesant | None of its own | — | — | B |
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 Schodack
Does Schodack have a public library?
Yes. Castleton Public Library, 85 South Main Street, serves 1,477 people in and around Schodack (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Castleton 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 Schodack’s library?
It logged 7.5 visits and lent 21.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Schodack’s civic life grade?
B+ Schodack is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns on civic life, #221 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 Schodack.
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.