Photo: Mwanner at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Harrietstown’s library runs 52 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Saranac Lake Free Library serves 11,642 people in and around Harrietstown. Last year it lent 34K books, movies and e-books and logged 58K visits.
The short version on Harrietstown’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
97% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 0%. What your card is worth ↓
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 77% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 26%. The building also logs about 45 Wi-Fi sessions a day. A year at the library ↓
Programs lean toward adults
66% of the 609 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 104 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; Saranac Lake Free Library serves 11,642 people in and around Harrietstown, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Harrietstown’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Harrietstown is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns, #56 of 751 in New York. Harrietstown is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Harrietstown’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
62 community nonprofits are registered in Harrietstown
11.9 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.7%
8.7% of Harrietstown’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 Harrietstown’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Saranac Lake Free Library serves 11,642 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Saranac Lake Free Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
34K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
9,958 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Saranac Lake Free Library, 109 Main Street, Saranac Lake.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Saranac Lake Free Library branch.
New in Harrietstown? 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 $1.22 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Harrietstown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $514K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $626K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $514K 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 8,225 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harrietstown | Saranac Lake Free Library fine-free | — | 44 | A |
| North Elba | Lake Placid Public Library fine-free | — | 49 | A− |
| Tupper Lake | Tupper Lake Public Library | — | 52 | B− |
| Saranac Lake | Saranac Lake Free Library fine-free | — | 44 | A |
| Long Lake | Raquette Lake Free Library fine-free | — | 23 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Santa Clara | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Newcomb | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| St. Armand | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
| Brighton | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
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. Saranac Lake Free Library serves 11,642 people in and around Harrietstown, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Harrietstown.
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 Harrietstown
Does Harrietstown have a public library?
Yes. Saranac Lake Free Library, 109 Main Street, serves 11,642 people in and around Harrietstown (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Saranac Lake 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 Harrietstown’s library?
It logged 5.0 visits and lent 2.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Harrietstown’s civic life grade?
A Harrietstown is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns on civic life, #56 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 Harrietstown.
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.