Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Edgemont’s library lends 22 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Edgemont Public Library serves Edgemont’s 767 residents. Last year it lent 19K books, movies and e-books and logged 4,221 visits.
The short version on Edgemont’s library
More library cards than residents
1,093 cards for 767 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Edgemont is a town of borrowers
Edgemont Public Library lends 22 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 98% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
A small-town library
Edgemont Public Library serves 767 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 31 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 32% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 94% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 26 items per child in Edgemont last year. Kids & programs ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 8% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 28% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Edgemont’s civic life grade
Edgemont isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Mostly books and media off the shelf
19K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 20K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
1,480 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Edgemont Public Library serves 767 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
13 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Edgemont last year.
Find it
Edgemont Public Library, 412 2nd Ave, Edgemont.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Edgemont? 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 $4.66 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Edgemont cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $63K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $295K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $63K 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 1,093 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Edgemont Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Edgemont
Does Edgemont have a public library?
Yes. Edgemont Public Library, 412 2nd Ave, serves Edgemont’s 767 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 31 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Edgemont 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 Edgemont’s library?
It logged 5.5 visits and lent 24.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Edgemont’s civic life grade?
Edgemont isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Edgemont.
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.