Ellisburg’s library logs 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Ellisburg Free Library serves Ellisburg’s 186 residents. Last year it lent 707 print books and media and logged 134 visits.
What Ellisburg’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, Ellisburg Free Library sits below the middle on all six per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on five. How it compares ↓
Well funded, but lightly used
Ellisburg Free Library spends $131 per resident, more than 91% of similar-size libraries. Use doesn’t match: visits per resident are lower than at 95% of them. What your card is worth ↓
Open only about 15 hours a week
Ellisburg Free Library keeps short hours: about 15 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Ellisburg Free Library serves 186 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 ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Ellisburg Free Library offered 1 programs last year, 5.4 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. 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 Ellisburg’s civic life grade
Ellisburg isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.10 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 $24K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $27K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $24K 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 55 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Ellisburg Free Library serves 186 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
707 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 4,997 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
1 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Ellisburg Free Library, 12117 Nys Route 193, Ellisburg.
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.
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. Ellisburg Free Library, 12117 Nys Route 193, serves Ellisburg’s 186 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 15 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ellisburg 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 0.7 visits and lent 3.8 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?
Ellisburg isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. 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.