John W. McCarty House · Public domainCandor’s library lends 14 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Candor Free Library serves 786 people in and around Candor. Last year it lent 14K books, movies and e-books and logged 7,556 visits.
What Candor’s library is like
More library cards than residents
877 cards for 786 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 ↓
Candor uses its library more than almost any town its size
Candor Free Library logs 9.6 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 89% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Candor out-borrows every town next door
At 18 loans per resident, Candor leads the four towns here. The closest is Newark Valley, at 12. Libraries next door ↓
Programs are almost all for children
83% of the 80 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 49 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Candor Free Library serves 786 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 27 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 ↓
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 Candor’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Candor is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns, #165 of 751 in New York. Candor is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
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 →
20 community nonprofits are registered in Candor
3.9 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.1%
10.1% of Candor’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 Candor’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Candor Free Library serves 786 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.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
14K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 21K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
2,961 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Candor Free Library, 2 Bank Street, Candor.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Candor? 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 $2.82 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Candor cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $81K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $227K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $81K 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 877 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Candor borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candor | Candor Free Library fine-free | 17.7 | 27 | A− |
| Newark Valley | Tappan-Spaulding Memorial Library fine-free | 12.3 | 25 | B+ |
| Owego | Apalachin Library Association fine-free | 11.2 | 35 | A− |
| Spencer | Spencer Library | 3.7 | 28 | B+ |
| Berkshire | Berkshire Free Library fine-free | — | 25 | A− |
| Caroline | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Tioga | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Danby | None of its own | — | — | A |
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 Candor
Does Candor have a public library?
Yes. Candor Free Library, 2 Bank Street, serves 786 people in and around Candor (the survey’s count) and is open about 27 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Candor Free 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 Candor’s library?
It logged 9.6 visits and lent 17.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Candor’s civic life grade?
A− Candor is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns on civic life, #165 of 751 in New York. 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 Candor.
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.