Photo: kenneth c zirkel · CC BY-SA 3.0Kirkland’s library logs 5.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Kirkland Town Library serves Kirkland’s 10,075 residents. Last year it lent 81K books, movies and e-books and logged 53K visits.
What Kirkland’s library is like
Above typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Kirkland Town Library is above the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, with six in the top 30%. No single number stands out, and none lags far behind. How it compares ↓
Top 10% in New York for kids’ borrowing
Kirkland ranks #22 of 241 New York towns with a library of their own for children’s items borrowed per child. How it compares ↓
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.
What’s behind Kirkland’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Kirkland is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns, #189 of 751 in New York. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank 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 →
48 community nonprofits are registered in Kirkland
4.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.6%
7.6% of Kirkland’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 Kirkland’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 26 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Kirkland Town Library serves 10,075 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
81K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 31K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2 times last year, on average.
19,955 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 kids’ programs 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 Kirkland last year.
Find it
Kirkland Town Library, 55 1/2 College Street, Clinton.
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 Kirkland? 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 $2.83 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Kirkland cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $459K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $459K 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 5,904 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Kirkland ranks 2nd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Augusta | C. W. Clark Memorial Library | 15.6 | 38 | C |
| Kirkland | Kirkland Town Library fine-free | 8.0 | 59 | B+ |
| New Hartford | New Hartford Public Library | 5.8 | 44 | C |
| Paris | Clayville Library Association | 2.8 | 24 | C+ |
| Vernon | Sherrill-Kenwood Free Library fine-free | — | 45 | D |
| Whitestown | Dunham Public Library fine-free | — | 56 | D |
| Westmoreland | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Marshall | None of its own | — | — | B |
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 Kirkland
Does Kirkland have a public library?
Yes. Kirkland Town Library, 55 1/2 College Street, serves Kirkland’s 10,075 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 59 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Kirkland Town 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 Kirkland’s library?
It logged 5.3 visits and lent 8.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Kirkland’s civic life grade?
B+ Kirkland is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns on civic life, #189 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 Kirkland.
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.