Bruynswick School No. 8 · Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0Shawangunk’s library runs 71 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Wallkill Public Library serves Shawangunk’s 8,036 residents. Last year it lent 27K print books and media and logged 26K visits.
What stands out about Shawangunk’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Shawangunk’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Shawangunk is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns, #558 of 751 in New York. Shawangunk is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($82K–$137K) 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 →
38 community nonprofits are registered in Shawangunk
2.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.0%
7.0% of Shawangunk’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 Shawangunk’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Wallkill Public Library serves 8,036 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
27K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 19K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.4 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Shawangunk last year.
Find it
Wallkill Public Library, 7 Bona Ventura, Wallkill.
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 Shawangunk? 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 $1.66 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Shawangunk cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $331K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $550K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $331K 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 2,608 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Shawangunk ranks 3rd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gardiner | Gardiner Library fine-free | 9.9 | 48 | A− |
| Montgomery | Josephine-Louise Public Library fine-free | 7.3 | 52 | C+ |
| Shawangunk | Wallkill Public Library fine-free | 3.4 | 50 | C |
| Mamakating | Mamakating Library fine-free | 3.2 | 45 | C− |
| Plattekill | Plattekill Public Library | 3.0 | 49 | B+ |
| Crawford | Pine Bush Area Public Library District | — | 42 | B− |
| Pine Bush | Pine Bush Area Public Library District | — | 42 | — graded as part of its town |
| Wawarsing | Ellenville Public Library & Museum fine-free | — | 54 | C− |
| Ellenville | Ellenville Public Library & Museum fine-free | — | 54 | B |
| Newburgh | Newburgh Free Library Town Branch fine-free | — | 44 | — graded with its twin city |
| Walker Valley | 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.
- 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 Shawangunk
Does Shawangunk have a public library?
Yes. Wallkill Public Library, 7 Bona Ventura, serves Shawangunk’s 8,036 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Wallkill 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 Shawangunk’s library?
It logged 3.2 visits and lent 3.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Shawangunk’s civic life grade?
C Shawangunk is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns on civic life, #558 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 Shawangunk.
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.