Photo: Anne LaBastille · Public domainInlet’s library logs 23 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Town of Inlet Public Library serves Inlet’s 355 residents. Last year it lent 5,226 books, movies and e-books and logged 8,204 visits.
The short version on Inlet’s library
More library cards than residents
815 cards for 355 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Inlet uses its library more than almost any town its size
Town of Inlet Public Library logs 23 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 11 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 90% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Open only about 18 hours a week
Town of Inlet Public Library keeps short hours: about 18 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Old Forge Library in Webb, next door, is open about 41 hours a week. The building ↓
A small-town library
Town of Inlet Public Library serves 355 residents with about one 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
35% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 63%. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Inlet’s civic life grade
Inlet isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
53 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Town of Inlet Public Library serves 355 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
5,226 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 9,333 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
1,198 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Town of Inlet Public Library, 164 North Route 28, Inlet.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Inlet? 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 $1.89 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Inlet cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $55K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $104K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $55K 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 815 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inlet | Town of Inlet Public Library fine-free | 14.7 | 18 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Webb | Old Forge Library fine-free | 11.1 | 41 | A+ |
| Long Lake | Raquette Lake Free Library fine-free | — | 23 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Morehouse | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Arietta | 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.
- Visits count everyone. Inlet’s 8,204 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
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 Inlet
Does Inlet have a public library?
Yes. Town of Inlet Public Library, 164 North Route 28, serves Inlet’s 355 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 18 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Town of Inlet Public 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 Inlet’s library?
It logged 23.1 visits and lent 14.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Inlet’s civic life grade?
Inlet isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Inlet.
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.