Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Wurtsboro

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Mamakating Library

Wurtsboro’s library runs 36 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size

Mamakating Library serves 10,718 people in and around Wurtsboro. Last year it lent 35K books, movies and e-books and logged 18K visits.

128 Sullivan Street, Wurtsboro 12790 · about 45 hours a week
C+Civic lifeAhead of 39% of U.S. towns. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Borrowed a year
35K
3.2 per resident
Visits a year
18K
1.7 per resident · Below typical (3.1)
Programs & events
390
about 8 a week · 4,454 attended
Cardholders
26%
2,812 cards
Open
45 hrs
a week

What stands out about Wurtsboro’s library

Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Wurtsboro’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Wurtsboro is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns. Wurtsboro is graded on two of the three inputs. Wurtsboro’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.

C+
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Wurtsboro’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 39%
FewerMore
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $59K–$99K (9,191)Ahead of 38%

Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($59K–$99K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.

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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Wurtsboro is small (1,081 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

5 community nonprofits are registered in Wurtsboro

3.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture10.72 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation00.40 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans10.72 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services00.16 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education00.40 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health00.16 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals10.56 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other10.56 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.

Volunteering

6.8%

6.8% of Wurtsboro’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 Wurtsboro’s residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 1.7 visits · typical 3.1Lower than 76%
Borrowing per resident 2.3 print items · typical 3.9Lower than 72%
Digital borrowing 0.9 e-items · typical 1.1Lower than 56%
Kids’ borrowing 1.1 kids’ items · typical 1.8Lower than 65%
Program attendance 0.4 attendees · typical 0.4Lower than 52%
Programs offered 36.4 per 1,000 residents · typical 24Higher than 73%
Cardholders 26% of residents · typical 40%Lower than 76%
Spending $30 per resident · typical $43Lower than 69%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Mamakating Library serves 10,718 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out

Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.

18K
visits
1.7 per resident
35K
loans, print + digital
3.2 per resident
390
programs & events
4,454 attended
2,812
library cards
26% of people served
Every open hour15items borrowed
Every week86people at a program
Every day39Wi-Fi sessions
4 staff (full-time equivalent)4 public computers19K books & media on the shelves
What people borrow

Almost half the print loans are kids’ books

35K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

35Kloans
Books & media (adults) 36%Kids’ books & media 35%E-books, audio & streaming 28%
How hard the shelves work
1.3×

Each of the 19K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.

From your couch

9,855 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

About 3 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.

Schools in Wurtsboro →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–544
Ages 6–11134
Teens11
Adults151
All ages50
Little ones
0.8

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

12K
kids’ books & media borrowed
4,454
people at programs
390
programs
The building

Find it

Mamakating Library, 128 Sullivan Street, Wurtsboro.

45
hours open a week
4,893
square feet
19K
books & media
With a card

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 Wurtsboro? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.82 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wurtsboro cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$30 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $327K.

Local taxes 96%State 1%Gifts & other 3%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $595K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $327K 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 2,812 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

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 Wurtsboro

Does Wurtsboro have a public library?

Yes. Mamakating Library, 128 Sullivan Street, serves 10,718 people in and around Wurtsboro (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Mamakating 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 Wurtsboro’s library?

It logged 1.7 visits and lent 3.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.

What is Wurtsboro’s civic life grade?

C+ Wurtsboro is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Wurtsboro.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.