Elbridge Village Historic District · Photo: Crazyale · CC BY-SA 3.0Elbridge’s library lends 19 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Elbridge Free Library serves 921 people in and around Elbridge. Last year it lent 17K print books and media and logged 16K visits.
Elbridge’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
1,975 cards for 921 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 ↓
Elbridge uses its library more than almost any town its size
Elbridge Free Library logs 17 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 19 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 96% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Six times the programs of a typical library its size
Elbridge Free Library ran 350 programs last year, about 7 a week. That’s 380 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60. People show up: 4,672 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Elbridge out-borrows every town next door
At 19 loans per resident, Elbridge leads the four towns here. The closest is Skaneateles, at 11. Libraries next door ↓
A small-town library
Elbridge Free Library serves 921 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 41 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 Elbridge’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Elbridge is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns, #412 of 751 in New York. Elbridge is graded on two of the three inputs. Elbridge’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($57K–$96K) 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 →
25 community nonprofits are registered in Elbridge
4.6 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.2%
6.2% of Elbridge’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 Elbridge’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 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 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Elbridge Free Library serves 921 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.
Books and media off the shelf
17K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 21K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
2 places to borrow in Elbridge
Elbridge Free Library, 241 East Main Street, Elbridge.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Elbridge? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Elbridge
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.38 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Elbridge cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $131K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $312K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $131K 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 1,975 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Elbridge borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elbridge | Elbridge Free Library fine-free | 18.9 | 41 | C+ |
| Skaneateles | The Skaneateles Library Association fine-free | 10.7 | 63 | A− |
| Camillus | Maxwell Memorial Library fine-free | 4.6 | 50 | C |
| Brutus | Weedsport Free Library fine-free | 3.5 | 45 | C |
| Lysander | Baldwinsville Public Library fine-free | — | 59 | C+ |
| Cato | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Van Buren | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Sennett | None of its own | — | — | D |
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. Elbridge’s 15,500 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
- Digital loans not reported. New York libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Elbridge
Does Elbridge have a public library?
Yes. Elbridge Free Library, 241 East Main Street, serves 921 people in and around Elbridge (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Elbridge 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 Elbridge’s library?
It logged 16.8 visits and lent 18.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Elbridge’s civic life grade?
C+ Elbridge is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns on civic life, #412 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 Elbridge.
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.