Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, New York, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0Dryden’s library lends 42 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
The Southworth Library Association serves 1,887 people in and around Dryden. Last year it lent 90K books, movies and e-books and logged 36K visits.
What Dryden’s library is like
More library cards than residents
4,418 cards for 1,887 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Dryden uses its library more than almost any town its size
The Southworth Library Association logs 19 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 42 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 97% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
56% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 40%. What your card is worth ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 52% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 5.5 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. It’s 11% 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 Dryden’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Dryden is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns, #39 of 751 in New York. Dryden is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
67 community nonprofits are registered in Dryden
4.9 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 (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
21.0%
21.0% of Dryden’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 Dryden’s residents live; 2022.
About 2 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
The Southworth Library Association serves 1,887 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 41 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
90K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 42K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.9 times last year, on average.
10,336 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
A National Register landmark since 1984
The Southworth Library Association, 24 West Main Street, Dryden.
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 Dryden? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Southworth Library
Southworth Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jun 8, 1984. It is significant for its architecture at the local level. It was listed as part of Dryden Village MRA.
Southworth Library is a historic library building located at Dryden in Tompkins County, New York. It is a 1+1⁄2-story masonry building with a steeply pitched gable roof. It features a prominent bell tower with a Seth Thomas clock and circular windows include carved stone gargoyles. It is a distinctive, small scale example of Eclectic style civic architecture.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $5.01 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Dryden cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $285K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $285K 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 4,418 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dryden | The Southworth Library Association fine-free | 47.9 | 42 | A |
| Groton | Groton Public Library fine-free | — | 42 | B |
| Lansing | Lansing Community Library fine-free | — | 45 | A |
| Caroline | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Virgil | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Ithaca | None of its own | — | — | A+ |
| Lansing | None of its own | — | — | A |
| McLean | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Northeast Ithaca | 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.
- Visits count everyone. Dryden’s 35,709 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
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 Dryden
Does Dryden have a public library?
Yes. The Southworth Library Association, 24 West Main Street, serves 1,887 people in and around Dryden (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is The Southworth Library Association 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 Dryden’s library?
It logged 18.9 visits and lent 47.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Dryden’s civic life grade?
A Dryden is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on civic life, #39 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 Dryden.
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; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.