Photo: Jondude11 · CC BY-SA 4.0Valley Cottage’s library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Valley Cottage Free Library serves Valley Cottage’s 9,038 residents. Last year it lent 123K books, movies and e-books and logged 103K visits.
The short version on Valley Cottage’s library
Valley Cottage uses its library more than almost any town its size
Valley Cottage Free Library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 11 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 93% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 46% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 24 items per child in Valley Cottage last year. Kids & programs ↓
Valley Cottage invests in its library
Valley Cottage Free Library spends $268 per resident a year, about six times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (92%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 2.5 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 85% of similar-size libraries. It’s 19% of all loans. 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 Valley Cottage’s civic life grade
Valley Cottage isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Every hour the doors are open, about 39 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Valley Cottage Free Library serves 9,038 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
123K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 110K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
22,936 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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 Valley Cottage last year.
Find it
Valley Cottage Free Library, 110 Route 303, Valley Cottage.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Valley Cottage? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Valley Cottage cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $2.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.4M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 4,680 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valley Cottage | Valley Cottage Free Library | 13.7 | 61 | — graded as part of its town |
| Nyack | The Nyack Library | — | 57 | A− |
| Congers | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Upper Nyack | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Bardonia | 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.
- 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 Valley Cottage
Does Valley Cottage have a public library?
Yes. Valley Cottage Free Library, 110 Route 303, serves Valley Cottage’s 9,038 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Valley Cottage Free Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Valley Cottage’s library?
It logged 11.4 visits and lent 13.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Valley Cottage’s civic life grade?
Valley Cottage isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Valley Cottage.
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.