Saranac’s library logs 5.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Saranac Clarksville District Library serves 10,470 people in and around Saranac. Last year it lent 132K books, movies and e-books and logged 60K visits.
Saranac’s library, in brief
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 67% of loans, more per resident than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 33%. What people borrow ↓
Most programs are for young children
75% of the 225 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.2 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; Saranac Clarksville District Library serves 10,470 people in and around Saranac, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Saranac’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Saranac is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns. Saranac is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Saranac’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
4 community nonprofits are registered in Saranac
1.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
20.7%
20.7% of Saranac’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 12.4% in the typical Michigan 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 Saranac’s residents live; 2022.
67% of borrowing is digital
132K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
88,711 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 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Saranac Clarksville District Library serves 10,470 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 26 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Saranac Clarksville District Library system. The library’s own count.
About 3 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
Saranac Public Library, 61 Bridge Street, Saranac.
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 Saranac Clarksville District Library branch.
New in Saranac? 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 $4.49 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Saranac cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $461K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $461K 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 2,170 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Saranac Clarksville District Library serves 10,470 people in and around Saranac, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Saranac.
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 Saranac
Does Saranac have a public library?
Yes. Saranac Clarksville District Library, 61 Bridge Street, serves 10,470 people in and around Saranac (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Saranac Clarksville District 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 Saranac’s library?
It logged 5.7 visits and lent 12.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Saranac’s civic life grade?
B Saranac is ahead of 60% 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 Saranac.
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.