Collins’ library lends 9.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Town of Collins Public Library serves Collins’s 5,894 residents. Last year it lent 58K print books and media and logged 22K visits.
What Collins’s library is like
Collins out-borrows every town next door
At 9.8 loans per resident, Collins leads the five towns here. The closest is Concord, at 7.4. Libraries next door ↓
Collins is a town of borrowers
Town of Collins Public Library lends 9.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 91% of similar-size libraries. 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.
What’s behind Collins’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Collins is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns, #385 of 751 in New York. Collins is graded on two of the three inputs. Collins’ count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
21 community nonprofits are registered in Collins
4.6 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.
6.5%
6.5% of Collins’ 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 Collins’ residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
58K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 36K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.6 times last year, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Town of Collins Public Library serves 5,894 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 25 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Collins last year.
Find it
Town of Collins Public Library, 2341 Main Street, Collins.
No late fees. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Collins? 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 $3.63 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Collins cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $253K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $917K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $253K 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 2,726 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Collins 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Collins | Town of Collins Public Library fine-free | 9.8 | 44 | B− |
| Concord | Town of Concord Public Library fine-free | 7.4 | 36 | B− |
| North Collins | Town of North Collins Public Library fine-free | 5.7 | 30 | C |
| Persia | Gowanda Free Library fine-free | 1.9 | 36 | B |
| Gowanda | Gowanda Free Library fine-free | 1.9 | 36 | B |
| Otto | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Perrysburg | None of its own | — | — | C |
| East Otto | 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 Collins
Does Collins have a public library?
Yes. Town of Collins Public Library, 2341 Main Street, serves Collins’ 5,894 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Town of Collins Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Collins’ library?
It logged 3.7 visits and lent 9.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Collins’ civic life grade?
B− Collins is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns on civic life, #385 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 Collins.
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.