Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Champlain’s library logs 2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Rouses Point Dodge Memorial Library serves 2,195 people in and around Champlain. Last year it lent 6,088 books, movies and e-books and logged 4,313 visits.
Champlain’s library, in brief
A small-town library
Rouses Point Dodge Memorial Library serves 2,195 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 39 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 ↓
Champlain out-borrows every town next door
At 2.8 loans per resident, Champlain leads the five towns here. The closest is Rouses Point, at 2.8. Libraries next door ↓
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 Champlain’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Champlain is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns, #136 of 751 in New York. Champlain is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Champlain’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 →
20 community nonprofits are registered in Champlain
3.6 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. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
13.1%
13.1% of Champlain’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 Champlain’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Rouses Point Dodge Memorial Library serves 2,195 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
6,088 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
733 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
63 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.
2 places to borrow in Champlain
Rouses Point Dodge Memorial Library, 144 Lake Street, Rouses Point.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Champlain? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Champlain
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.03 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Champlain cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $98K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $101K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $98K 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 1,301 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Champlain borrows the most per resident of the 5 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champlain | Rouses Point Dodge Memorial Library fine-free | 2.8 | 39 | A− |
| Rouses Point | Rouses Point Dodge Memorial Library fine-free | 2.8 | 39 | B+ |
| Alburgh | Alburgh Public fine-free | 2.3 | 31 | B+ |
| Mooers | Mooers Free Library fine-free | 1.0 | 25 | C− |
| Chazy | Dodge Library fine-free | 0.9 | 21 | D |
| Isle La Motte | Isle La Motte Free Public | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 Champlain
Does Champlain have a public library?
Yes. Rouses Point Dodge Memorial Library, 144 Lake Street, serves 2,195 people in and around Champlain (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rouses Point Dodge Memorial 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 Champlain’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 2.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Champlain’s civic life grade?
A− Champlain is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns on civic life, #136 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 Champlain.
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.