Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Chazy’s library logs 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Dodge Library serves Chazy’s 1,855 residents. Last year it lent 1,727 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,426 visits.
The short version on Chazy’s library
Dodge Library is used less than most libraries its size
Dodge Library records 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 0.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $15 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Dodge Library serves 1,855 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Dodge Library offered 13 programs last year, 7 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
Open only about 21 hours a week
Dodge Library keeps short hours: about 21 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Rouses Point Dodge Memorial Library in Champlain, next door, is open about 39 hours a week. The buildings ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 18% of the people Dodge Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. 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 Chazy’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Chazy is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns, #725 of 751 in New York. Chazy is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Chazy’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Dodge Library spends $15 per resident, against a typical $54 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($72K–$120K) 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 →
8 community nonprofits are registered in Chazy
2.0 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.0%
5.0% of Chazy’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 Chazy’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Dodge Library serves 1,855 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1,727 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 8,870 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
216 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
13 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Chazy last year.
2 places to borrow in Chazy
Dodge Library, 9 Fiske Road, West Chazy.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Chazy? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Chazy
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.00 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Chazy cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $28K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $29K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $28K 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 332 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. 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− |
| Chazy | Dodge Library fine-free | 0.9 | 21 | D |
| Isle La Motte | Isle La Motte Free Public | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Beekmantown | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Altona | 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 Chazy
Does Chazy have a public library?
Yes. Dodge Library, 9 Fiske Road, serves Chazy’s 1,855 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 21 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dodge 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 Chazy’s library?
It logged 0.8 visits and lent 0.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Chazy’s civic life grade?
D Chazy is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns on civic life, #725 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 Chazy.
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.