Goshen Public Library and Historical Society
Goshen’s library is the Goshen Public Library and Historical Society, a branch of Goshen Public Library and Historical Society, which serves 19,260 people and lent 131K items last year.
What stands out about Goshen Public Library and Historical Society
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.21 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Goshen cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.9M 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 7,084 cardholders ÷ 12.
Every hour the doors are open, about 40 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Goshen Public Library and Historical Society system. The library’s own count.
Find it
Goshen Public Library and Historical Society, 366 Main Street, Goshen.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Goshen Public Library and Historical Society branch.
New in Goshen? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S. A tiny town’s library always looks busier per person, so it’s only compared with its own size.
Goshen Public Library and Historical Society serves 19,260 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
131K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
29,494 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 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.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chester | Chester Public Library fine-free | 4.7 | 54 |
| Goshen | Goshen Public Library and Historical Society fine-free | — | 62 |
| Warwick | Albert Wisner Public Library fine-free | — | 62 |
| Florida | Florida Public Library | — | 55 |
| Blooming Grove | Moffat Library of Washingtonville fine-free | — | 60 |
| Wawayanda | None of its own | — | — |
| Hamptonburgh | None of its own | — | — |
| Chester | None of its own | — | — |
| Wallkill | None of its own | — | — |
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.
About these numbers
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Hours are an average. The survey reports a building’s public hours for the whole year. We divide by the weeks it was open, so check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
- Compared by size. “Similar-size” means libraries serving about as many people, nationwide. Per-resident numbers always flatter the smallest towns, so they’re never compared with big cities.
- 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.
- System-wide. Goshen Public Library and Historical Society is one branch of Goshen Public Library and Historical Society, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 19,260 people it serves.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Goshen.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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.