Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0Derby Center’s library lends 6.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Dailey Memorial serves 2,857 people in and around Derby Center. Last year it lent 23K books, movies and e-books and logged 11K visits.
Derby Center’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
61% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 39%. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
74% of the 122 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.6 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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; Dailey Memorial serves 2,857 people in and around Derby Center, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Derby Center’s civic life grade
Derby Center 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Dailey Memorial serves 2,857 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Dailey Memorial system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
23K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
4,331 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, 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
Dailey Memorial, 101 Junior High Dr., Derby.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Dailey Memorial branch.
New in Derby Center? 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 $3.43 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Derby Center cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $102K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $351K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $102K 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 1,321 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Dailey Memorial serves 2,857 people in and around Derby Center, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Derby Center.
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 Derby Center
Does Derby Center have a public library?
Yes. Dailey Memorial, 101 Junior High Dr., serves 2,857 people in and around Derby Center (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dailey Memorial 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 Derby Center’s library?
It logged 4.0 visits and lent 8.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Derby Center’s civic life grade?
Derby Center 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 Derby Center.
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.