Photo: Adam Moss · CC BY-SA 2.0Clifton Springs’ library logs 18 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Clifton Springs Library serves Clifton Springs’s 2,209 residents. Last year it lent 38K books, movies and e-books and logged 40K visits.
What Clifton Springs’s library is like
Clifton Springs uses its library more than almost any town its size
Clifton Springs Library logs 18 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 13 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 93% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Clifton Springs Library ran 595 programs last year, about 11 a week. That’s 269 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60. People show up: 5,795 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Nearly everyone in Clifton Springs has a card
2,164 cards for 2,209 people, or 98%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
35% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 37%. What your card is worth ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.6 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. It’s 21% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
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 Clifton Springs’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Clifton Springs is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
Clifton Springs Library logged 17.9 visits per resident in FY2024, #42 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare. The survey counts every visit, residents or not, and libraries don’t report how many come from out of town.
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 →
9 community nonprofits are registered in Clifton Springs
3.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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.
13.1%
13.1% of Clifton Springs’ 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 Clifton Springs’ residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Clifton Springs Library serves 2,209 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
38K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 18K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.7 times last year, on average.
7,857 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 Clifton Springs last year.
Find it
Clifton Springs Library, 4 Railroad Avenue, Clifton Springs.
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 Clifton Springs? 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 $1.87 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Clifton Springs cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $340K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $636K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $340K 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 2,164 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits count everyone. Clifton Springs’ 39,520 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Clifton Springs 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 Clifton Springs
Does Clifton Springs have a public library?
Yes. Clifton Springs Library, 4 Railroad Avenue, serves Clifton Springs’ 2,209 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Clifton Springs 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 Clifton Springs’ library?
It logged 17.9 visits and lent 17.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Clifton Springs’ civic life grade?
A Clifton Springs is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Clifton Springs.
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.