Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 4.0Herkimer’s library lends 2.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Frank J. Basloe Public Library serves 9,487 people in and around Herkimer. Last year it lent 33K books, movies and e-books and logged 24K visits.
What’s behind Herkimer’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Herkimer is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns, #471 of 751 in New York. Herkimer’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($42K–$70K) 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 →
37 community nonprofits are registered in Herkimer
3.9 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 (13 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.2%
7.2% of Herkimer’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 Herkimer’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Frank J. Basloe Public Library serves 9,487 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Frank J. Basloe Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
33K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
7,665 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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
Frank J. Basloe Public Library, 245 North Main Street, Herkimer.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Frank J. Basloe Public Library branch.
New in Herkimer? 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 $1.66 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Herkimer cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $332K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $551K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $332K 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 4,140 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newport | Newport Free Library fine-free | 10.1 | 25 | B+ |
| German Flatts | Ilion Free Public Library fine-free | 5.4 | 52 | C+ |
| Ilion | Ilion Free Public Library fine-free | 5.4 | 52 | B− |
| Fairfield | Middleville Free Library fine-free | 4.0 | 12 | B |
| Frankfort | Frankfort Free Library | 3.7 | 28 | C− |
| Mohawk | Weller Library | 1.6 | 37 | C− |
| Herkimer | Frank J. Basloe Public Library | — | 51 | C+ |
| Little Falls | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Schuyler | None of its own | — | — | D− |
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. Frank J. Basloe Public Library serves 9,487 people in and around Herkimer, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Herkimer.
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 Herkimer
Does Herkimer have a public library?
Yes. Frank J. Basloe Public Library, 245 North Main Street, serves 9,487 people in and around Herkimer (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Frank J. Basloe Public 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 Herkimer’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 3.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Herkimer’s civic life grade?
C+ Herkimer is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns on civic life, #471 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 Herkimer.
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.