Photo: Doug Kerr from Upstate New York · CC BY-SA 2.0Earlville’s library lends 13 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Earlville Free Library serves Earlville’s 774 residents. Last year it lent 14K books, movies and e-books and logged 8,241 visits.
Earlville’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
1,450 cards for 774 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 ↓
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
76% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 23%. What your card is worth ↓
Earlville uses its library more than almost any town its size
Earlville Free Library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 13 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 91% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Earlville Free Library ran 189 programs last year, about 4 a week. That’s 244 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Earlville Free Library serves 774 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 35 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 ↓
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 Earlville’s civic life grade
Earlville isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
About 2 kids’ programs a week
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 Earlville last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Earlville Free Library serves 774 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
14K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 14K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
4,251 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Earlville Free Library, 4 North Main Street, Earlville.
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 Earlville? 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 $1.83 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Earlville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $121K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $222K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $121K 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 1,450 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Earlville
Does Earlville have a public library?
Yes. Earlville Free Library, 4 North Main Street, serves Earlville’s 774 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Earlville Free 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 Earlville’s library?
It logged 10.6 visits and lent 18.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Earlville’s civic life grade?
Earlville isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Earlville.
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.