Photo: Mwanner · CC BY-SA 3.0Clifton’s library runs 13 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Clifton Community Library serves Clifton’s 675 residents. Last year it lent 2,560 print books and media and logged 2,625 visits.
The short version on Clifton’s library
A small-town library
Clifton Community Library serves 675 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 ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
34% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 64%. What your card is worth ↓
Nearly everyone in Clifton has a card
618 cards for 675 people, or 92%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Open only about 22 hours a week
Clifton Community Library keeps short hours: about 22 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A place to get online
Clifton Community Library logs about 59 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 1 public computers. That’s 32 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
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’s civic life grade
Clifton isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Clifton Community Library serves 675 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.
Books and media off the shelf
2,560 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 5,465 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
9 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Clifton last year.
Find it
Clifton Community Library, 7171 State Highway 3, Cranberry Lake.
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? 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 $1.91 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Clifton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $56K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $106K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $56K 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 618 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Clifton ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colton | Hepburn Library fine-free | 10.0 | 25 | A |
| Clifton | Clifton Community Library fine-free | 3.8 | 22 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Cranberry Lake | Clifton Community Library fine-free | 3.8 | 22 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Fine | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
| Clare | None of its own | — | — | — 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.
- 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 Clifton
Does Clifton have a public library?
Yes. Clifton Community Library, 7171 State Highway 3, serves Clifton’s 675 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 22 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Clifton Community 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’s library?
It logged 3.9 visits and lent 3.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Clifton’s civic life grade?
Clifton isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Clifton.
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.