Boonville’s library lends 5.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Erwin Library & Institute serves Boonville’s 2,020 residents. Last year it lent 16K books, movies and e-books and logged 7,464 visits.
The short version on Boonville’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
85% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 15%. What your card is worth ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Erwin Library and Pratt House has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973. Today’s library there has 5,652 square feet. The building ↓
A small-town library
Erwin Library & Institute serves 2,020 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 32 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 ↓
Above typical on every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, Erwin Library & Institute is above the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, with three in the top 30%. No single number stands out, and none lags far behind. How it compares ↓
Nearly everyone in Boonville has a card
1,831 cards for 2,020 people, or 91%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
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 Boonville’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Boonville is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns. Boonville’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Boonville
5.3 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.
6.9%
6.9% of Boonville’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 Boonville’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1973
Erwin Library & Institute, 104 Schuyler Street, Boonville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Boonville? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Erwin Library and Pratt House
Erwin Library and Pratt House was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Aug 14, 1973. It is significant for its commerce, education and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Romanesque.
Erwin Library and Pratt House is a historic library building and house located in Boonville in Oneida County, New York. The library building was built in 1890 of rock-faced local limestone with a square tower at the entrance. The Pratt House was constructed in 1875. It is of brick with a foundation of smooth limestone and a mansard roof with a central tower.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Erwin Library & Institute serves 2,020 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
16K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 10K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
5,538 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program a week
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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Boonville last year.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.98 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Boonville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $145K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $287K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $145K 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 1,831 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. Erwin Library & Institute 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 Boonville
Does Boonville have a public library?
Yes. Erwin Library & Institute, 104 Schuyler Street, serves Boonville’s 2,020 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 32 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Erwin Library & Institute 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 Boonville’s library?
It logged 3.7 visits and lent 8.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Boonville’s civic life grade?
B Boonville is ahead of 59% 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 Boonville.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.