Ellisburg’s library lends 16 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Mannsville Free Library serves 297 people in and around Ellisburg. Last year it lent 4,634 print books and media and logged 3,073 visits.
What Ellisburg’s library is like
Ellisburg uses its library more than almost any town its size
Mannsville Free Library logs 10 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 16 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 90% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Ellisburg out-borrows every town next door
At 16 loans per resident, Ellisburg leads the four towns here. The closest is Henderson, at 4.9. Libraries next door ↓
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Mannsville Free Library ran 77 programs last year, about 1 a week. That’s 259 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60. People show up: 1,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
More library cards than residents
299 cards for 297 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 ↓
A small-town library
Mannsville Free Library serves 297 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 ↓
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 Ellisburg’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Ellisburg is ahead of 33% of U.S. towns, #513 of 751 in New York. Ellisburg is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($58K–$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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Ellisburg
2.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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.
7.5%
7.5% of Ellisburg’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 Ellisburg’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Mannsville Free Library serves 297 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
4,634 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 5,517 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.
3 places to borrow in Ellisburg
Mannsville Free Library, 108 Lilac Park Drive, Mannsville.
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 Ellisburg? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Ellisburg
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.20 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ellisburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $46K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $148K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $46K 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 299 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Ellisburg 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ellisburg | Mannsville Free Library fine-free | 15.6 | 19 | C |
| Henderson | Henderson Free Library fine-free | 4.9 | 32 | B |
| Adams | Adams Free Library fine-free | 4.1 | 28 | C+ |
| Sandy Creek | Annie Porter Ainsworth Memorial Library fine-free | 4.0 | 35 | C+ |
| Lorraine | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Boylston | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 Ellisburg
Does Ellisburg have a public library?
Yes. Mannsville Free Library, 108 Lilac Park Drive, serves 297 people in and around Ellisburg (the survey’s count) and is open about 19 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mannsville 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 Ellisburg’s library?
It logged 10.3 visits and lent 15.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Ellisburg’s civic life grade?
C Ellisburg is ahead of 33% of U.S. towns on civic life, #513 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 Ellisburg.
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.