Photo: Shinerunner at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Lackawanna’s library logs 1.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Lackawanna Public Library serves Lackawanna’s 19,949 residents. Last year it lent 53K print books and media and logged 34K visits.
What stands out about Lackawanna’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Lackawanna’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Lackawanna is ahead of 13% of U.S. towns, #688 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.
Lackawanna Public Library spends $23 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($39K–$65K) 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 →
43 community nonprofits are registered in Lackawanna
2.2 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 (16 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.
6.3%
6.3% of Lackawanna’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 Lackawanna’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Lackawanna Public Library serves 19,949 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 27 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
53K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 29K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.8 times last year, on average.
273 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Lackawanna last year.
Find it
Lackawanna Public Library, 560 Ridge Road, Lackawanna.
No late fees. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Lackawanna? 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 $1.95 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lackawanna cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $459K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $896K 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 6,641 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Lackawanna ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Seneca | West Seneca Public Library fine-free | 5.4 | 52 | C− |
| Hamburg | Hamburg Public Library fine-free | 5.1 | 54 | C |
| Lackawanna | Lackawanna Public Library fine-free | 2.6 | 38 | D |
| Buffalo | Buffalo & Erie County Public Library System fine-free | — | 61 | C+ |
| Blasdell | None of its own | — | — | D |
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.
- Digital loans not reported. New York libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Lackawanna
Does Lackawanna have a public library?
Yes. Lackawanna Public Library, 560 Ridge Road, serves Lackawanna’s 19,949 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lackawanna Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Lackawanna’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 2.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Lackawanna’s civic life grade?
D Lackawanna is ahead of 13% of U.S. towns on civic life, #688 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 Lackawanna.
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.