Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0Augusta’s library lends 14 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
C. W. Clark Memorial Library serves 658 people in and around Augusta. Last year it lent 10K books, movies and e-books and logged 5,959 visits.
The short version on Augusta’s library
More library cards than residents
884 cards for 658 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 ↓
Augusta uses its library more than almost any town its size
C. W. Clark Memorial Library logs 9.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 14 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 87% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
C. W. Clark Memorial Library serves 658 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 38 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 ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
C. W. Clark Memorial Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Two of the three libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Augusta invests in its library
C. W. Clark Memorial Library spends $197 per resident a year, about four times the typical $54 for a library its size. Almost all of it (86%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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 Augusta’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Augusta is ahead of 31% of U.S. towns. Augusta is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Augusta’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($43K–$72K) 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.
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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Augusta
3.5 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.
6.4%
6.4% of Augusta’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 Augusta’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
10K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 17K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
1,288 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
C. W. Clark Memorial Library serves 658 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
84 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, 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
C. W. Clark Memorial Library, 160 North Main Street, Oriskany Falls.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Augusta? 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 $1.31 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Augusta cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $130K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $170K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $130K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 884 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Augusta borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Augusta | C. W. Clark Memorial Library | 15.6 | 38 | C |
| Oriskany Falls | C. W. Clark Memorial Library | 15.6 | 38 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Kirkland | Kirkland Town Library fine-free | 8.0 | 59 | B+ |
| Vernon | Sherrill-Kenwood Free Library fine-free | — | 45 | D |
| Marshall | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Stockbridge | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Madison | None of its own | — | — | D |
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. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
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 Augusta
Does Augusta have a public library?
Yes. C. W. Clark Memorial Library, 160 North Main Street, serves 658 people in and around Augusta (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is C. W. Clark Memorial Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Augusta’s library?
It logged 9.1 visits and lent 15.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Augusta’s civic life grade?
C Augusta is ahead of 31% 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 Augusta.
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.