Clifton Springs Sanitarium Historic District · Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0Manchester’s library logs 18 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Clifton Springs Library serves 2,209 people in and around Manchester. Last year it lent 38K books, movies and e-books and logged 40K visits.
What Manchester’s library is like
Manchester uses its library more than almost any town its size
Clifton Springs Library logs 18 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 13 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 93% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Clifton Springs Library ran 595 programs last year, about 11 a week. That’s 269 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60. People show up: 5,795 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Nearly everyone in Manchester has a card
2,164 cards for 2,209 people, or 98%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
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 37%. What your card is worth ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.6 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. It’s 21% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
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 Manchester’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Manchester is ahead of 77% of U.S. towns, #154 of 751 in New York. Manchester is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Manchester’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
33 community nonprofits are registered in Manchester
3.5 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
12.3%
12.3% of Manchester’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 Manchester’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 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 under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Clifton Springs Library serves 2,209 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
38K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 18K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.7 times last year, on average.
7,857 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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.
2 places to borrow in Manchester
Clifton Springs Library, 4 Railroad Avenue, Clifton Springs.
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 Manchester? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Manchester
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.87 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Manchester cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $340K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $636K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $340K 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 2,164 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Manchester borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester | Clifton Springs Library fine-free | 17.0 | 47 | A− |
| Palmyra | Palmyra Community Library fine-free | 8.1 | 50 | B+ |
| Macedon | Macedon Public Library fine-free | 6.7 | 48 | B |
| Arcadia | Newark Public Library fine-free | — | 50 | B+ |
| Farmington | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Hopewell | 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.
- Visits count everyone. Manchester’s 39,520 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 Manchester
Does Manchester have a public library?
Yes. Clifton Springs Library, 4 Railroad Avenue, serves 2,209 people in and around Manchester (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Clifton Springs 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 Manchester’s library?
It logged 17.9 visits and lent 17.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Manchester’s civic life grade?
A− Manchester is ahead of 77% of U.S. towns on civic life, #154 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 Manchester.
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.