Photo: Enesse Bhé · CC BY-SA 2.0Moriah’s library logs 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Sherman Free Library serves Moriah’s 4,716 residents. Last year it lent 2,103 print books and media and logged 3,823 visits.
The short version on Moriah’s library
Sherman Free Library is used less than most libraries its size
Sherman Free Library records 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $10 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Sherman Free Library offered 5 programs last year, 1.1 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Sherman Free Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1995. Today’s library there has 1,508 square feet. The building ↓
Runs on less money than most
Sherman Free Library spends $10 per resident, less than 96% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
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 Moriah’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Moriah is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns, #742 of 751 in New York. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Moriah’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Sherman Free Library spends $10 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($47K–$79K) 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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Moriah
2.4 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
3.6%
3.6% of Moriah’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 Moriah’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1995
Sherman Free Library, 20 Church Street, Port Henry.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Moriah? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Sherman Free Library
Sherman Free Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jun 1, 1995. It is significant for its education and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Late Victorian and Romanesque. It was listed as part of Moriah MPS.
Sherman Free Library is an historic free association library, located in the hamlet of Port Henry, in the town of Moriah, in Essex County, New York. It was built in 1887 and has two rooms, and is a 1+1⁄2-story brick building topped by slate-covered, steeply pitched gable roofs, on a limestone foundation. An addition was built in 1907. It features deeply arched fenestration in the Richardsonian Romanesque style.
More about the building →Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Sherman Free Library serves 4,716 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
2,103 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
5 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Moriah last year.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Moriah cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $45K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $35K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $45K 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 1,237 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Moriah ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westport | Westport Library Association fine-free | 2.8 | 21 | A− |
| Moriah | Sherman Free Library fine-free | 0.4 | 27 | D− |
| Port Henry | Sherman Free Library fine-free | 0.4 | 27 | — graded as part of its town |
| Crown Point | Hammond Library of Crown Point fine-free | — | 25 | D− |
| Elizabethtown | Elizabethtown Library Association fine-free | — | 25 | B+ |
| Addison | None of its own | — | — | A+ |
| North Hudson | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Panton | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 Moriah
Does Moriah have a public library?
Yes. Sherman Free Library, 20 Church Street, serves Moriah’s 4,716 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 27 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sherman Free 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 Moriah’s library?
It logged 0.8 visits and lent 0.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Moriah’s civic life grade?
D− Moriah is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns on civic life, #742 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 Moriah.
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.