Photo: Andre Carrotflower · CC BY-SA 3.0Clarence’s library lends 7.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Clarence Public Library serves Clarence’s 32,950 residents. Last year it lent 258K print books and media and logged 81K visits.
What stands out about Clarence’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Clarence’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Clarence is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns, #452 of 751 in New York. Clarence’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($94K–$156K) 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 →
134 community nonprofits are registered in Clarence
4.1 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 (24 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 7 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.3%
7.3% of Clarence’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 Clarence’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
258K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 81K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.2 times last year, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Clarence Public Library serves 32,950 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 95 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 2 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 Clarence last year.
Find it
Clarence Public Library, Three Town Place, Clarence.
No late fees. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Clarence? 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 $5.54 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Clarence cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $710K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $710K 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 16,921 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Clarence 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clarence | Clarence Public Library fine-free | 7.8 | 52 | C+ |
| Amherst | Amherst Public Library fine-free | 7.6 | 63 | C+ |
| Newstead | Newstead Public Library fine-free | 6.4 | 34 | B+ |
| Lancaster | Lancaster Public Library fine-free | 5.7 | 56 | C− |
| Royalton | Royalton Hartland Community Library | — | 41 | C+ |
| Lockport | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
| Rapids | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Harris Hill | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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.
- Digital loans not reported. New York libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Clarence
Does Clarence have a public library?
Yes. Clarence Public Library, Three Town Place, serves Clarence’s 32,950 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Clarence Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Clarence’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 7.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Clarence’s civic life grade?
C+ Clarence is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns on civic life, #452 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 Clarence.
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.