Simeon B. Robbins House · Photo: Pubdog · Public domainFranklinville’s library runs 76 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Blount Library serves 4,457 people in and around Franklinville. Last year it lent 9,450 print books and media and logged 3,825 visits.
The short version on Franklinville’s library
New York pays a big share
35% of the budget comes from the state, and 51% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
68% of the 339 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 98 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; Blount Library serves 4,457 people in and around Franklinville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Franklinville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Franklinville is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns, #436 of 751 in New York. Franklinville is graded on two of the three inputs. Franklinville’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($48K–$80K) 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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in Franklinville
4.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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.
5.8%
5.8% of Franklinville’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 Franklinville’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Blount Library serves 4,457 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Blount Library system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
9,450 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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
Blount Library, 5 North Main Street, Franklinville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Blount Library branch.
New in Franklinville? 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 $1.93 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Franklinville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $86K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $166K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $86K 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 2,148 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Machias | King Memorial Library fine-free | 0.7 | 32 | C− |
| Franklinville | Blount Library | — | 42 | C+ |
| Ellicottville | Ellicottville Memorial Library fine-free | — | 48 | B |
| Humphrey | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Lyndon | 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.
- System-wide. Blount Library serves 4,457 people in and around Franklinville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Franklinville.
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 Franklinville
Does Franklinville have a public library?
Yes. Blount Library, 5 North Main Street, serves 4,457 people in and around Franklinville (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Blount 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 Franklinville’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 2.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Franklinville’s civic life grade?
C+ Franklinville is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns on civic life, #436 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 Franklinville.
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.