Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0Waverly’s library runs 74 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Waverly Free Library serves Waverly’s 4,373 residents. Last year it lent 22K print books and media and logged 26K visits.
What stands out about Waverly’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Waverly’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Waverly is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns, #182 of 751 in New York. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
24 community nonprofits are registered in Waverly
5.6 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 (8 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.
6.9%
6.9% of Waverly’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 Waverly’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Waverly Free Library serves 4,373 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Books and media off the shelf
22K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 28K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
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 Waverly last year.
Find it
Waverly Free Library, 18 Elizabeth Street, Waverly.
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 Waverly? 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 $2.15 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Waverly cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $177K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $380K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $177K 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 1,583 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.
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. Waverly Free Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- 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 Waverly
Does Waverly have a public library?
Yes. Waverly Free Library, 18 Elizabeth Street, serves Waverly’s 4,373 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 32 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Waverly Free 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 Waverly’s library?
It logged 5.8 visits and lent 5.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Waverly’s civic life grade?
B+ Waverly is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns on civic life, #182 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 Waverly.
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.