Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 4.0Marathon’s library lends 9.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Peck Memorial Library serves 892 people in and around Marathon. Last year it lent 11K books, movies and e-books and logged 1,656 visits.
The short version on Marathon’s library
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
49% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 48%. What your card is worth ↓
People borrow more than they stay
Borrowing per resident is higher than at 86% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 78%. People come in, pick up their books and go. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Peck Memorial Library serves 892 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 30 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Peck Memorial Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1992. Today’s library there has 3,052 square feet. The building ↓
Most programs are for young children
75% of the 91 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 38 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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 Marathon’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Marathon is ahead of 55% of U.S. towns. Marathon is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Marathon’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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Marathon
2.9 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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.7%
9.7% of Marathon’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 Marathon’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Peck Memorial Library serves 892 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
11K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
2,265 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
A National Register landmark since 1992
Peck Memorial Library, 24 Main Street, Marathon.
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 Marathon? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Peck Memorial Library
Peck Memorial Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 19, 1992. It is significant for its architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Late Victorian.
Peck Memorial Library is a historic library building located at Marathon in Cortland County, New York. It is a 2+1⁄2-story brick structure constructed in 1894–1895. It is eclectic in style and typical of Late Victorian architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.76 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Marathon cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $100K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $177K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $100K 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 680 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.
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 Marathon
Does Marathon have a public library?
Yes. Peck Memorial Library, 24 Main Street, serves 892 people in and around Marathon (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Peck Memorial 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 Marathon’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 12.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Marathon’s civic life grade?
B− Marathon is ahead of 55% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Marathon.
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.