Ellington’s library runs 178 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Ellington Farman Library serves Ellington’s 1,497 residents. Last year it lent 3,201 print books and media and logged 5,076 visits.
What Ellington’s library is like
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
48% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 50%. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Ellington Farman Library serves 1,497 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 24 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 ↓
Programs lean toward adults
86% of the 267 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 17 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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 Ellington’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Ellington is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Ellington
4.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.0%
10.0% of Ellington’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 Ellington’s residents live; 2022.
267 programs a year
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 Ellington last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Ellington Farman Library serves 1,497 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
3,201 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Ellington Farman Library, 760 Thornton Road, Ellington.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Ellington? 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 $1.16 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ellington cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $62K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $72K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $62K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 567 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.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poland | Kennedy Free Library fine-free | 4.4 | 38 | C+ |
| Ellington | Ellington Farman Library | 2.1 | 24 | B+ |
| Conewango | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Cherry Creek | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Gerry | None of its own | — | — | A |
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.
- 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 Ellington
Does Ellington have a public library?
Yes. Ellington Farman Library, 760 Thornton Road, serves Ellington’s 1,497 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 24 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ellington Farman Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Ellington’s library?
It logged 3.4 visits and lent 2.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Ellington’s civic life grade?
B+ Ellington is ahead of 66% 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 Ellington.
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.