Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided · Public domainCanton’s library logs 1.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Canton Free Library serves Canton’s 11,638 residents from 3 locations. Last year it lent 52K books, movies and e-books and logged 21K visits.
The short version on Canton’s library
Programs are almost all for children
83% of the 204 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.5 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Three places to borrow in Canton
Canton Free Library runs three locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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.
What’s behind Canton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Canton is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns, #390 of 751 in New York. Canton’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
76 community nonprofits are registered in Canton
6.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.1%
7.1% of Canton’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 Canton’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Canton Free Library serves 11,638 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
52K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 46K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
7,587 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 kids’ programs 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 Canton last year.
3 places to borrow in Canton
Canton Free Library, 8 Park Street, Canton.
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 Canton? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Canton
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.38 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Canton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $569K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $786K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $569K 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 4,445 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Canton ranks 3rd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| De Kalb | Richville Free Library fine-free | 7.9 | 12 | D |
| Oswegatchie | Heuvelton Free Library fine-free | 7.6 | 31 | D |
| Canton | Canton Free Library fine-free | 4.5 | 50 | B− |
| Lisbon | Hepburn Library of Lisbon fine-free | 1.8 | 31 | C− |
| Russell | Russell Public Library fine-free | 0.4 | 35 | C− |
| Potsdam | Potsdam Public Library fine-free | — | 62 | A− |
| Pierrepont | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Canton Free Library 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 Canton
Does Canton have a public library?
Yes. Canton Free Library, 8 Park Street, serves Canton’s 11,638 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Canton 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 Canton’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 4.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Canton’s civic life grade?
B− Canton is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns on civic life, #390 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 Canton.
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.