Photo: VitaleBaby at en.wikipedia · Public domainHighland’s library runs 36 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Sunshine Hall Free Library serves Highland’s 2,196 residents. Last year it lent 16K books, movies and e-books and logged 6,729 visits.
Highland’s library, in brief
A small-town library
Sunshine Hall Free Library serves 2,196 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 25 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
27% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 72%. What your card is worth ↓
A place to get online
Sunshine Hall Free Library logs about 83 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 3 public computers. That’s 14 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
Programs lean toward adults
63% of the 79 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 25 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Sunshine Hall Free Library holds 22,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Highland’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Highland is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns. Highland’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
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 →
20 community nonprofits are registered in Highland
9.0 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. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.4%
9.4% of Highland’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 Highland’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Sunshine Hall Free Library serves 2,196 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
16K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 22K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
5,870 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
79 programs a year
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 Highland last year.
Find it
Sunshine Hall Free Library, 14 Proctor Road, Eldred.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Highland? 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 $3.60 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Highland cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $93K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $335K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $93K 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 1,339 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highland | Sunshine Hall Free Library fine-free | 7.1 | 25 | A− |
| Tusten | Western Sullivan P L - Tusten-Cochecton fine-free | — | 37 | B+ |
| Shohola Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Lumberland | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Lackawaxen Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Barryville | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Bethel | 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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Highland
Does Highland have a public library?
Yes. Sunshine Hall Free Library, 14 Proctor Road, serves Highland’s 2,196 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 25 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sunshine Hall 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 Highland’s library?
It logged 3.1 visits and lent 7.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Highland’s civic life grade?
A− Highland is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Highland.
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.