Photo: Beyond My Ken · CC BY-SA 4.0Woodstock’s library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Woodstock Public Library District serves Woodstock’s 6,287 residents. Last year it lent 83K books, movies and e-books and logged 72K visits.
The short version on Woodstock’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
59% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 41%. What your card is worth ↓
Woodstock uses its library more than almost any town its size
Woodstock Public Library District logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 9.7 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 90% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Woodstock out-borrows every town next door
At 13 loans per resident, Woodstock leads the four towns here. The closest is Shandaken, at 7.4. Libraries next door ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Woodstock Public Library District ran 692 programs last year, about 13 a week. That’s 110 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Woodstock ranks 7th in New York for library use
Out of 241 New York towns with a library of their own, Woodstock comes 7th for visits per resident. It’s also #11 for kids’ borrowing and #15 for borrowing. 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 Woodstock’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Woodstock is among the top 1% of U.S. towns, #2 of 751 in New York. All three inputs put Woodstock near the top nationally; Woodstock’s count of community nonprofits ranks 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 →
79 community nonprofits are registered in Woodstock
12.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
14.7%
14.7% of Woodstock’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 Woodstock’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 35 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.
Woodstock Public Library District serves 6,287 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
83K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 51K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
21,562 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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 Woodstock last year.
Find it
Woodstock Public Library Distrcit, 5 Library Lane, Woodstock.
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 Woodstock? 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 $1.91 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Woodstock cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $717K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $717K 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 4,751 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Woodstock borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woodstock | Woodstock Public Library Distrcit fine-free | 13.1 | 45 | A+ |
| Shandaken | Phoenicia Library fine-free | 7.4 | 30 | A |
| Saugerties | Saugerties Public Library fine-free | 6.3 | 44 | B+ |
| Olive | Olive Free Library Association fine-free | 3.8 | 39 | A |
| Hurley | Hurley Library District fine-free | — | 41 | A− |
| West Hurley | West Hurley Public Library fine-free | — | 20 | — graded as part of its town |
| Hunter | Mountain Top Library fine-free | — | 38 | — too few inputs |
| Zena | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Kingston | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 Woodstock
Does Woodstock have a public library?
Yes. Woodstock Public Library District, 5 Library Lane, serves Woodstock’s 6,287 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Woodstock Public Library District 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 Woodstock’s library?
It logged 11.4 visits and lent 13.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Woodstock’s civic life grade?
A+ Woodstock is among the top 1% of U.S. towns on civic life, #2 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 Woodstock.
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.