Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Troy’s library logs 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Troy Public Library serves Troy’s 51,401 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 151K books, movies and e-books and logged 48K visits.
What Troy’s library is like
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
29% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 59%. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
54% of the 406 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 129 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
43% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 43% of loans. Print still makes up 57%. 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.
What’s behind Troy’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Troy is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns, #509 of 751 in New York. Troy’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($44K–$73K) 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 →
264 community nonprofits are registered in Troy
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 (49 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.2%
7.2% of Troy’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 Troy’s residents live; 2022.
43% of borrowing is digital
151K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 89K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
65,533 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Troy Public Library serves 51,401 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 2 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 Troy last year.
2 places to borrow in Troy
Troy Public Library, 100 Second Street, Troy.
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 Troy? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Troy
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Troy cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.3M 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 29,093 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Troy ranks 6th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schaghticoke | Arvilla E. Diver Memorial Library fine-free | 15.1 | 26 | C− |
| North Greenbush | North Greenbush Public Library fine-free | 7.0 | 49 | C− |
| Wynantskill | North Greenbush Public Library fine-free | 7.0 | 49 | — graded as part of its town |
| Colonie | William K Sanford Town Library | 6.9 | 59 | C+ |
| Brunswick | Brunswick Community Library fine-free | 5.7 | 44 | C− |
| Troy | Troy Public Library fine-free | 2.9 | 60 | C |
| Watervliet | Watervliet Public Library fine-free | 2.6 | 37 | C− |
| Waterford | Waterford Public Library | — | 38 | C− |
| Waterford | Waterford Public Library | — | 38 | C− |
| Green Island | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Green Island | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Troy Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Troy
Does Troy have a public library?
Yes. Troy Public Library, 100 Second Street, serves Troy’s 51,401 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Troy 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 Troy’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 2.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Troy’s civic life grade?
C Troy is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns on civic life, #509 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 Troy.
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.