Fenton’s library runs 77 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Fenton Free Library serves Fenton’s 6,429 residents. Last year it lent 26K books, movies and e-books and logged 23K visits.
The short version on Fenton’s library
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
25% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 72%. What your card is worth ↓
Programs draw a crowd
11,000 people came to the library’s 494 programs last year: 1.7 per resident, against a typical 0.5, more than at 92% of similar-size libraries. 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.
What’s behind Fenton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Fenton is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns, #458 of 751 in New York. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Fenton’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Fenton
2.5 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.2%
8.2% of Fenton’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 Fenton’s residents live; 2022.
About 5 kids’ programs 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Fenton last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Fenton Free Library serves 6,429 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
26K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 23K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
2,943 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Fenton Free Library, 1062 Chenango Street, Binghamton.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Fenton? 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 $2.30 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fenton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $214K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $492K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $214K 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 1,274 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Fenton ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greene | Moore Memorial Library | 4.3 | 54 | C+ |
| Fenton | Fenton Free Library fine-free | 4.0 | 41 | C+ |
| Colesville | Nineveh Public Library of Colesville Township | 0.8 | 34 | D |
| Chenango | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Chenango Bridge | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Port Dickinson | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Kirkwood | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Barker | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Dickinson | None of its own | — | — | C− |
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. Fenton Free Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Fenton
Does Fenton have a public library?
Yes. Fenton Free Library, 1062 Chenango Street, serves Fenton’s 6,429 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fenton 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 Fenton’s library?
It logged 3.5 visits and lent 4.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Fenton’s civic life grade?
C+ Fenton is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns on civic life, #458 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 Fenton.
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.