Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 4.0Washington’s library logs 12 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Millbrook Library serves Washington’s 4,522 residents. Last year it lent 42K books, movies and e-books and logged 52K visits.
The short version on Washington’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
61% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 37%. What your card is worth ↓
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Millbrook Library ran 599 programs last year, about 12 a week. That’s 132 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 12,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Washington ranks 6th in New York for library use
Out of 241 New York towns with a library of their own, Washington comes 6th for visits per resident. It’s also #16 for kids’ borrowing. How it compares ↓
Washington invests in its library
Millbrook Library spends $167 per resident a year, about four times the typical $43 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
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 Washington’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Washington is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns, #32 of 751 in New York. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
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 →
35 community nonprofits are registered in Washington
7.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (3 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.
9.0%
9.0% of Washington’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 Washington’s residents live; 2022.
About 6 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 Washington last year.
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.
Millbrook Library serves 4,522 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
42K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 46K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
10,056 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Millbrook Library, 3 Friendly Lane, Millbrook.
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 Washington? 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 $1.05 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Washington cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $756K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $791K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $756K 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 3,691 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Washington ranks 3rd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stanford | Stanford Free Library fine-free | 10.5 | 55 | A |
| Pleasant Valley | Pleasant Valley Free Library | 10.4 | 50 | A− |
| Washington | Millbrook Library fine-free | 9.4 | 42 | A |
| Clinton | Clinton Community Library fine-free | 4.9 | 50 | A− |
| Amenia | Amenia Free Library fine-free | 4.2 | 32 | A |
| Union Vale | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Millbrook 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 Washington
Does Washington have a public library?
Yes. Millbrook Library, 3 Friendly Lane, serves Washington’s 4,522 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Millbrook 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 Washington’s library?
It logged 11.5 visits and lent 9.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Washington’s civic life grade?
A Washington is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on civic life, #32 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 Washington.
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.