Photo: Andre Carrotflower · CC BY-SA 4.0Marilla’s library lends 7.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Marilla Free Library serves Marilla’s 5,189 residents. Last year it lent 39K print books and media and logged 11K visits.
What Marilla’s library is like
People borrow more than they stay
Borrowing per resident is higher than at 83% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 65%. People come in, pick up their books and go. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Marilla Free Library offered 38 programs last year, 7.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. 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.
What’s behind Marilla’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Marilla is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns, #256 of 751 in New York. Marilla’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
28 community nonprofits are registered in Marilla
5.5 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.4%
9.4% of Marilla’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 Marilla’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
39K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 26K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 time last year, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Marilla Free Library serves 5,189 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 23 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
38 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 Marilla last year.
Find it
Marilla Free Library, 11637 Bullis Road, Marilla.
No late fees. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Marilla? 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 $2.49 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Marilla cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $240K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $597K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $240K 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 1,945 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Marilla ranks 3rd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aurora | Aurora Town Public Library fine-free | 12.5 | 47 | A− |
| Elma | Elma Public Library fine-free | 9.2 | 44 | B+ |
| Marilla | Marilla Free Library fine-free | 7.5 | 33 | B |
| Alden | Ewell Free Library fine-free | 2.8 | 33 | C− |
| Wales | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Town Line | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Bennington | 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.
- 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 Marilla
Does Marilla have a public library?
Yes. Marilla Free Library, 11637 Bullis Road, serves Marilla’s 5,189 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Marilla Free Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Marilla’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 7.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Marilla’s civic life grade?
B Marilla is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns on civic life, #256 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 Marilla.
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.