Photo: Idawriter · CC BY-SA 3.0Colton’s library lends 10 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Hepburn Library serves Colton’s 1,530 residents. Last year it lent 15K print books and media and logged 7,607 visits.
Colton’s library, in brief
A small-town library
Hepburn Library serves 1,530 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 25 hours a week. 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 ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Hepburn Library of Colton has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2012. Today’s library there has 4,744 square feet. The building ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Hepburn Library holds 30,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years last year. 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 Colton’s civic life grade
On library visits and community nonprofits, Colton is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns. Colton is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Colton’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Colton
7.1 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
Books and media off the shelf
15K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 30K 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Hepburn Library serves 1,530 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
11 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 Colton last year.
A National Register landmark since 2012
Hepburn Library, 84 Main Street, Colton.
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 Colton? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Hepburn Library of Colton
Hepburn Library of Colton was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 16, 2012. It is significant for its architecture and education at the local level. Its architecture is described as Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals and Colonial Revival and Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements and Arts and Crafts.
The Hepburn Library of Colton, also known as the Colton-Hepburn Library, is a historic library building located at Colton, St. Lawrence County, New York. It was designed by architect Ehrick Rossiter and built in 1912-1913 It is a one-story, cruciform plan, stone building with a hipped roof topped by a multi-staged wood cupola.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.02 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Colton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $124K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $252K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $124K 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 978 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Colton borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. 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 |
| Long Lake | Raquette Lake Free Library fine-free | — | 23 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Parishville | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Piercefield | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Hopkinton | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| 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 Colton
Does Colton have a public library?
Yes. Hepburn Library, 84 Main Street, serves Colton’s 1,530 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 25 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hepburn 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 Colton’s library?
It logged 5.0 visits and lent 10.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Colton’s civic life grade?
A Colton is ahead of 90% 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 Colton.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.