Photo: Andre Carrotflower · CC BY-SA 4.0East Syracuse’s library logs 8.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
East Syracuse Free Library serves East Syracuse’s 3,078 residents. Last year it lent 39K books, movies and e-books and logged 27K visits.
What East Syracuse’s library is like
More library cards than residents
4,140 cards for 3,078 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
East Syracuse uses its library more than almost any town its size
East Syracuse Free Library logs 8.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 8.8 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 88% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Top 10% in New York for library use
East Syracuse ranks #16 of 241 New York towns with a library of their own for visits per resident. That’s 8.8 visits per resident, more than at 91% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.9 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 94% of similar-size libraries. It’s 31% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
East Syracuse invests in its library
East Syracuse Free Library spends $115 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (94%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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.
What’s behind East Syracuse’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, East Syracuse is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns, #232 of 751 in New York. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
13 community nonprofits are registered in East Syracuse
4.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.4%
6.4% of East Syracuse’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 East Syracuse’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
39K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 26K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
11,930 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
East Syracuse Free Library serves 3,078 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 1 kids’ program 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in East Syracuse last year.
Find it
East Syracuse Free Library, 4990 James Street, East Syracuse.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in East Syracuse? 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 $1.77 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average East Syracuse cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $353K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $626K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $353K 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 4,140 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.
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 are a typical-week estimate. East Syracuse Free Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 East Syracuse
Does East Syracuse have a public library?
Yes. East Syracuse Free Library, 4990 James Street, serves East Syracuse’s 3,078 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is East Syracuse 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 East Syracuse’s library?
It logged 8.8 visits and lent 12.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is East Syracuse’s civic life grade?
B+ East Syracuse is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns on civic life, #232 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 East Syracuse.
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.