Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0Westerlo’s library runs 81 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Town of Westerlo Public Library serves Westerlo’s 3,194 residents. Last year it lent 18K books, movies and e-books and logged 6,397 visits.
The short version on Westerlo’s library
Every town next door borrows more
Westerlo’s library lends 5.6 items per resident. Each of the three neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Greenville at 12. Libraries next door ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 17% of the people Town of Westerlo Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
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 Westerlo’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Westerlo is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns, #384 of 751 in New York. Westerlo’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Westerlo
4.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: environment & animals.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.8%
7.8% of Westerlo’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 Westerlo’s residents live; 2022.
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 Westerlo last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Town of Westerlo Public Library serves 3,194 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
18K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
5,511 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Town of Westerlo Public Library, 604 State Route 143, Westerlo.
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 Westerlo? 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 $2.76 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Westerlo cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $105K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $290K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $105K 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 537 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Westerlo ranks 4th of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greenville | Greenville Public Library fine-free | 12.2 | 42 | A− |
| Berne | Berne Public Library fine-free | 9.4 | 40 | B+ |
| Rensselaerville | Rensselaerville Public Library fine-free | 7.3 | 27 | A− |
| Westerlo | Town of Westerlo Public Library fine-free | 5.6 | 30 | B− |
| Coeymans | Rcs Community Library fine-free | — | 56 | B− |
| New Scotland | Voorheesville Public Library fine-free | — | 57 | A |
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 Westerlo
Does Westerlo have a public library?
Yes. Town of Westerlo Public Library, 604 State Route 143, serves Westerlo’s 3,194 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Town of Westerlo 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 Westerlo’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 5.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Westerlo’s civic life grade?
B− Westerlo is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns on civic life, #384 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 Westerlo.
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.