Hume’s library lends 8.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Wide Awake Club Library serves 5,071 people in and around Hume. Last year it lent 50K books, movies and e-books and logged 20K visits.
Hume’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 64% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Busy on a lean budget
Wide Awake Club Library spends $27 per resident, less than 75% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). It’s still borrowed from more than 75% of them. What your card is worth ↓
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; Wide Awake Club Library serves 5,071 people in and around Hume, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Hume’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Hume is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns. Hume is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Hume’s count of community nonprofits pulls 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 →
5 community nonprofits are registered in Hume
2.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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.
9.6%
9.6% of Hume’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 Hume’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Wide Awake Club Library serves 5,071 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 24 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Wide Awake Club Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
50K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
6,441 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Wide Awake Club Library, 22 N. Genesee St., Fillmore.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Wide Awake Club Library branch.
New in Hume? 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 $5.49 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hume cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $136K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $749K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $136K 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 2,002 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pike | Pike Library | 6.0 | 20 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Hume | Wide Awake Club Library fine-free | — | 40 | B− |
| Granger | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Caneadea | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Centerville | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Portage | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Genesee Falls | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Houghton | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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. Wide Awake Club Library serves 5,071 people in and around Hume, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Hume.
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 Hume
Does Hume have a public library?
Yes. Wide Awake Club Library, 22 N. Genesee St., serves 5,071 people in and around Hume (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Wide Awake Club 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 Hume’s library?
It logged 3.9 visits and lent 9.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Hume’s civic life grade?
B− Hume is ahead of 45% 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 Hume.
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.