Photo: Ken Winters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers · Public domainDunkirk’s library lends 1.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Dunkirk Public Library serves 14,231 people in and around Dunkirk. Last year it lent 19K print books and media and logged 34K visits.
What stands out about Dunkirk Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Dunkirk’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Dunkirk is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns, #453 of 751 in New York. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($40K–$67K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
45 community nonprofits are registered in Dunkirk
3.6 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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.0%
8.0% of Dunkirk’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 Dunkirk’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Dunkirk Public Library serves 14,231 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Dunkirk Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
19K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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.
Find it
Dunkirk Public Library, 536 Central Avenue, Dunkirk.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Dunkirk Public Library branch.
New in Dunkirk? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Dunkirk cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $407K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $317K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $407K 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 8,072 cardholders ÷ 12.
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.
- System-wide. Dunkirk Public Library serves 14,231 people in and around Dunkirk, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Dunkirk.
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 Dunkirk
Does Dunkirk have a public library?
Yes. Dunkirk Public Library, 536 Central Avenue, serves 14,231 people in and around Dunkirk (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dunkirk Public 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 Dunkirk’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 1.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Dunkirk’s civic life grade?
C+ Dunkirk is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns on civic life, #453 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 Dunkirk.
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.