Heintzelman Library · Photo: Ɱ (Taken by Arnold Feist, original file transferred to User:Ɱ) · CC0Horicon’s library logs 1.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Horicon Free Public Library serves Horicon’s 1,471 residents. Last year it lent 4,032 print books and media and logged 2,576 visits.
Horicon’s library, in brief
Every town next door borrows more
Horicon’s library lends 2.7 items per resident. Each of the three neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Schroon at 13. Libraries next door ↓
A small-town library
Horicon Free Public Library serves 1,471 residents with about 2 full-time staff. 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
36% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 49%. What your card is worth ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
Horicon Free Public Library keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Richards Library in Warrensburg, next door, is open about 45 hours a week. The building ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Heintzelman Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2017. Today’s library there has 1,800 square feet. The building ↓
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 Horicon’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Horicon is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Horicon
3.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.7%
10.7% of Horicon’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 Horicon’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 2017
Horicon Free Public Library, 6604 State Route 8, Brant Lake.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Horicon? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Heintzelman Library
Heintzelman Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jun 26, 2017. It is significant for its architecture and social history at the local level.
More about the building →Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Horicon Free Public Library serves 1,471 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
4,032 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
52 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 Horicon last year.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $7.46 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Horicon cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $10K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $76K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $10K 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 475 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Horicon ranks 4th of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schroon | Schroon Lake Public Library | 13.5 | 30 | A |
| Bolton | Bolton Free Library fine-free | 6.2 | 40 | B+ |
| Chester | Town of Chester Public Library fine-free | 4.8 | 36 | C+ |
| Horicon | Horicon Free Public Library | 2.7 | 20 | B− |
| Warrensburg | Richards Library | — | 45 | A− |
| Pottersville | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Hague | 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.
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 Horicon
Does Horicon have a public library?
Yes. Horicon Free Public Library, 6604 State Route 8, serves Horicon’s 1,471 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Horicon Free 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 Horicon’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 2.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Horicon’s civic life grade?
B− Horicon is ahead of 47% 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 Horicon.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.