Saint Mark's Church · Photo: Gilbert Ask · Public domainDeWitt’s library lends 14 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Community Library of Dewitt & Jamesville serves 16,979 people in and around DeWitt. Last year it lent 307K books, movies and e-books and logged 92K visits.
What DeWitt’s library is like
A system of heavy borrowers
Community Library of Dewitt & Jamesville lends 14 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 97% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 50% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 94% of similar-size libraries. It’s 22% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
77% of the people it serves carry a library card
13,046 cards for 16,979 people, or 77%. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
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; Community Library of Dewitt & Jamesville serves 16,979 people in and around DeWitt, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind DeWitt’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, DeWitt is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns, #197 of 751 in New York. DeWitt is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; DeWitt’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 →
140 community nonprofits are registered in DeWitt
5.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (14 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.7%
7.7% of DeWitt’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 DeWitt’s residents live; 2022.
About 6 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Community Library of Dewitt & Jamesville serves 16,979 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 99 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Community Library of Dewitt & Jamesville system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
307K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
67,535 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
2 places to borrow in DeWitt
Community Library of Dewitt & Jamesville, 5110 Jamesville Road, Dewitt.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Community Library of Dewitt & Jamesville branch.
New in DeWitt? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Community Library of Dewitt & Jamesville branches in DeWitt
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.29 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average DeWitt cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.4M 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 13,046 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Syracuse | East Syracuse Free Library fine-free | 12.6 | 49 | B+ |
| LaFayette | Lafayette Public Library fine-free | 7.0 | 39 | A− |
| Salina | Salina Free Library fine-free | 5.9 | 49 | C− |
| DeWitt | Community Library of Dewitt & Jamesville fine-free | — | 60 | B+ |
| Syracuse | Onondaga County Public Library fine-free | — | 54 | C |
| Manlius | Manlius Library fine-free | — | 58 | B |
| Lyncourt | 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.
- System-wide. Community Library of Dewitt & Jamesville serves 16,979 people in and around DeWitt, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just DeWitt.
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 DeWitt
Does DeWitt have a public library?
Yes. Community Library of Dewitt & Jamesville, 5110 Jamesville Road, serves 16,979 people in and around DeWitt (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Community Library of Dewitt & Jamesville 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 DeWitt’s library?
It logged 5.4 visits and lent 18.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is DeWitt’s civic life grade?
B+ DeWitt is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns on civic life, #197 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 DeWitt.
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.