Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 4.0Ithaca’s library lends 5.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Tompkins County Public Library serves 105,740 people in and around Ithaca. Last year it lent 878K books, movies and e-books and logged 177K visits.
What stands out about Tompkins County Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Ithaca’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Ithaca is among the top 1% of U.S. towns, #4 of 751 in New York. Ithaca is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs put Ithaca near the top nationally; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
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 →
268 community nonprofits are registered in Ithaca
8.2 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 (26 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
22.7%
22.7% of Ithaca’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 Ithaca’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Tompkins County Public Library serves 105,740 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 281 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Tompkins County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
878K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
278,723 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 9 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
Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street, Ithaca.
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 Tompkins County Public Library branch.
New in Ithaca? 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 $2.73 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ithaca cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $4.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $13M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.8M 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 36,738 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ithaca | Tompkins County Public Library fine-free | — | 60 | A+ |
| South Hill | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Northwest Ithaca | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| East Ithaca | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Cayuga Heights | None of its own | — | — | A+ |
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. Tompkins County Public Library serves 105,740 people in and around Ithaca, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Ithaca.
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 Ithaca
Does Ithaca have a public library?
Yes. Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street, serves 105,740 people in and around Ithaca (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Tompkins County 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 Ithaca’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 8.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Ithaca’s civic life grade?
A+ Ithaca is among the top 1% of U.S. towns on civic life, #4 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 Ithaca.
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.