Photo: Stilfehler 19:28, 9 July 2007 (CEST) · CC BY-SA 1.0Elmira’s library is a branch of Chemung County Library District, which lends less per resident than 60% of systems its size
Elmira’s library is the West Elmira Library, a branch of Chemung County Library District, which serves 84,148 people and lent 325K items last year.
What stands out about West Elmira Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Elmira’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Elmira is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns, #690 of 751 in New York. Elmira is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Elmira’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($79K–$132K) 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 →
18 community nonprofits are registered in Elmira
2.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.3%
5.3% of Elmira’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 Elmira’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Chemung County Library District serves 84,148 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 27 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Chemung County Library District system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
325K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
73,214 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 13 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
West Elmira Library, 1231 West Water Street, Elmira.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Chemung County Library District branch.
New in Elmira? 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 $1.35 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Elmira cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.9M 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 27,276 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elmira | West Elmira Library fine-free | — | 32 | D |
| West Elmira | West Elmira Library fine-free | — | 32 | — graded as part of its town |
| Horseheads | Horseheads Free Library fine-free | — | 54 | C− |
| Big Flats | Big Flats Library fine-free | — | 34 | C+ |
| Southport | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Ashland | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Baldwin | 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.
- System-wide. West Elmira Library is one branch of Chemung County Library District, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 84,148 people it serves.
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 Elmira
Does Elmira have a public library?
Yes: West Elmira Library, 1231 West Water Street, is a branch of Chemung County Library District, which serves 84,148 people. The branch is open about 32 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Chemung County Library District 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 Elmira’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 3.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Elmira’s civic life grade?
D Elmira is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns on civic life, #690 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 Elmira.
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.