Photo: Mitchazenia · CC BY-SA 4.0Williamsville’s library lends 7.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Amherst Public Library serves 129,595 people in and around Williamsville. Last year it lent 984K print books and media and logged 350K visits.
The short version on Williamsville’s library
Busy on a lean budget
Amherst Public Library spends $17 per resident, less than 86% of similar-size libraries (typical: $36). It’s still borrowed from more than 78% of them. What your card is worth ↓
Open only about 19 hours a week
Amherst Public Library keeps short hours: about 19 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Amherst Public Library in Amherst, next door, is open about 63 hours a week. The building ↓
Amherst Public Library serves more than Williamsville
The library’s service area covers 129,595 people in and around Williamsville, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. 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 Williamsville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Williamsville is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns, #231 of 751 in New York. Williamsville is graded on two of the three inputs. Williamsville’s count of community nonprofits holds 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 →
39 community nonprofits are registered in Williamsville
7.1 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 (7 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.
6.6%
6.6% of Williamsville’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 Williamsville’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
984K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 313K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.1 times last year, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Amherst Public Library serves 129,595 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 110 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 10 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.
Find it
Williamsville Library, 5571 Main Street, Williamsville.
No late fees. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Williamsville? 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 $6.75 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Williamsville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $2.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $15M 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 63,914 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Williamsville borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Williamsville | Williamsville Library fine-free | 7.6 | 19 | B+ |
| Amherst | Amherst Public Library fine-free | 7.6 | 63 | C+ |
| Cheektowaga | Julia Boyer Reinstein Library fine-free | 4.3 | 61 | D |
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.
- 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 Williamsville
Does Williamsville have a public library?
Yes. Amherst Public Library, 5571 Main Street, serves 129,595 people in and around Williamsville (the survey’s count) and is open about 19 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Amherst Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Williamsville’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 7.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Williamsville’s civic life grade?
B+ Williamsville is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns on civic life, #231 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 Williamsville.
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.