Newfield Covered Bridge · Photo: Doug Kerr from Upstate New York · CC BY-SA 2.0Newfield’s library lends 31 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Newfield Public Library serves 725 people in and around Newfield. Last year it lent 25K books, movies and e-books and logged 14K visits.
The short version on Newfield’s library
More library cards than residents
994 cards for 725 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Newfield uses its library more than almost any town its size
Newfield Public Library logs 20 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 31 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 98% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Seven times the programs of a typical library its size
Newfield Public Library ran 315 programs last year, about 6 a week. That’s 434 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60. People show up: 3,215 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 50% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Newfield Public Library serves 725 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 37 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 ↓
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 Newfield’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Newfield is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns, #179 of 751 in New York. Newfield is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Newfield’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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in Newfield
2.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
23.8%
23.8% of Newfield’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 Newfield’s residents live; 2022.
About 2 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Newfield Public Library serves 725 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
25K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 17K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.
2,834 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Newfield Public Library, 198 Main Street, Newfield.
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 Newfield? 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 $2.10 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Newfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $194K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $407K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $194K 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 994 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.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newfield | Newfield Public Library fine-free | 34.8 | 37 | B+ |
| Catharine | Dutton S Peterson Memorial Library fine-free | — | 46 | A− |
| Van Etten | Van Etten Library fine-free | — | 18 | B |
| Enfield | None of its own | — | — | A+ |
| Danby | None of its own | — | — | A |
| West Danby | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Cayuta | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Ithaca | 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. Newfield’s 14,328 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 Newfield
Does Newfield have a public library?
Yes. Newfield Public Library, 198 Main Street, serves 725 people in and around Newfield (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Newfield Public 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 Newfield’s library?
It logged 19.8 visits and lent 34.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Newfield’s civic life grade?
B+ Newfield is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns on civic life, #179 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 Newfield.
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.