Photo: עדירל · CC BY-SA 3.0Ellenburg’s library logs 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Ellenburg Sarah A. Munsil Free Library serves Ellenburg’s 1,842 residents. Last year it lent 3,548 print books and media and logged 897 visits.
Ellenburg’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
97% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 0%. What your card is worth ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Ellenburg Sarah A. Munsil Free Library offered 0 programs last year, 0 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, Ellenburg Sarah A. Munsil Free Library sits below the middle on all six per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on six. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Ellenburg Sarah A. Munsil Free Library serves 1,842 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 ↓
Open only about 19 hours a week
Ellenburg Sarah A. Munsil Free Library keeps short hours: about 19 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
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 Ellenburg’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Ellenburg is ahead of 23% of U.S. towns. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Ellenburg Sarah A. Munsil Free Library spends $1 per resident, against a typical $54 for libraries its size, and its 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($55K–$91K) 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 →
4 community nonprofits are registered in Ellenburg
2.2 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.
9.9%
9.9% of Ellenburg’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 Ellenburg’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Ellenburg Sarah A. Munsil Free Library serves 1,842 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
3,548 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 3,902 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card.
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Ellenburg last year.
Find it
Ellenburg Sarah A. Munsil Free Library, 5139 Route 11, Ellenburg Depot.
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 $36.07 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ellenburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $1,552.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $56K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1,552 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 375 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. Ellenburg Sarah A. Munsil Free Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- 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 Ellenburg
Does Ellenburg have a public library?
Yes. Ellenburg Sarah A. Munsil Free Library, 5139 Route 11, serves Ellenburg’s 1,842 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 19 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ellenburg Sarah A. Munsil Free Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Ellenburg’s library?
It logged 0.5 visits and lent 1.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Ellenburg’s civic life grade?
C− Ellenburg is ahead of 23% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Ellenburg.
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.