Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0Johnson City’s library lends 2.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Your Home Public Library serves Johnson City’s 15,343 residents. Last year it lent 49K books, movies and e-books and logged 41K visits.
What stands out about Johnson City’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Johnson City’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Johnson City is ahead of 33% of U.S. towns, #518 of 751 in New York. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($42K–$70K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
49 community nonprofits are registered in Johnson City
3.3 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 (12 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.1%
7.1% of Johnson City’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 Johnson City’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 2005
Your Home Public Library, 107 Main Street, Johnson City.
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 Johnson City? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Your Home Library
Your Home Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Oct 5, 2005. It is significant for its social history, education and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Late Victorian.
Your Home Public Library is a historic library building located at Johnson City in Broome County, New York. Originally the Brigham Homestead built in 1850 by Elijah Brigham, the building was replaced with a Late Victorian style building created as a residence in 1885. In 1917, it was converted for use as a library.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Your Home Public Library serves 15,343 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 28 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
49K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 33K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
8,392 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program a week
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 Johnson City last year.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Johnson City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $910K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $777K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $910K 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 6,898 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Union | George F. Johnson Memorial Library fine-free | 9.3 | 58 | C+ |
| Johnson City | Your Home Public Library fine-free | 3.2 | 34 | C |
| Binghamton | Broome County Public Library fine-free | — | 60 | B |
| Vestal | Vestal Public Library fine-free | — | 56 | B+ |
| Dickinson | None of its own | — | — | C− |
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 Johnson City
Does Johnson City have a public library?
Yes. Your Home Public Library, 107 Main Street, serves Johnson City’s 15,343 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 34 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Your Home 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 Johnson City’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 3.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Johnson City’s civic life grade?
C Johnson City is ahead of 33% of U.S. towns on civic life, #518 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 Johnson City.
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.