Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to North Collins

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Gowanda State Road, North Collins, New York - 20210418Photo: Andre Carrotflower · CC BY-SA 4.0
Town of North Collins Public Library

North Collins’ library lends 5.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size

Town of North Collins Public Library serves 3,504 people in and around North Collins. Last year it lent 20K print books and media and logged 14K visits.

2095 School Street, North Collins 14111 · about 30 hours a week
C+Civic lifeAhead of 35% of U.S. towns. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Borrowed a year
20K
5.7 per resident
Visits a year
14K
4 per resident · Above typical (3)
Programs & events
190
about 4 a week · 2,723 attended
Cardholders
47%
1,658 cards
Open
30 hrs
a week

What stands out about North Collins’s library

Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.

Civic life grade

What’s behind North Collins’ civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, North Collins is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns. North Collins is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; North Collins’ count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.

C+
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of North Collins’ overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 35%
FewerMore
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $50K–$83K (8,730)Ahead of 33%

Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($50K–$83K) 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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. North Collins is small (1,252 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

4 community nonprofits are registered in North Collins

3.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture00.37 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation00.37 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans00.37 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services10.74 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education11.11 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health00.37 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17

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.

Volunteering

6.7%

6.7% of North Collins’ 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 North Collins’ residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 4 visits · typical 3Higher than 64%
Borrowing per resident 5.7 print items · typical 3.8Higher than 70%
Kids’ borrowing 2.1 kids’ items · typical 1.6Higher than 62%
Program attendance 0.8 attendees · typical 0.5Higher than 68%
Programs offered 54.2 per 1,000 residents · typical 34Higher than 70%
Cardholders 47% of residents · typical 42%Higher than 58%
Spending $50 per resident · typical $43Higher than 60%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Ranked in NY#104Most-used librariesof 241 towns
#122Most library borrowingof 241 towns
#116Best libraries for kidsof 241 towns
Size group

Town of North Collins Public Library serves 3,504 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out

Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.

14K
visits
4 per resident
20K
loans, print + digital
5.7 per resident
190
programs & events
2,723 attended
1,658
library cards
47% of people served
Every open hour13items borrowed
Every week52people at a program
Every day13Wi-Fi sessions
2 staff (full-time equivalent)13 public computers16K books & media on the shelves
What people borrow

Books and media off the shelf

20K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.

20Kloans
Books & media (adults) 62%Kids’ books & media 38%
How hard the shelves work
1.3×

Each of the 16K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.

Kids & programs

About 1 kids’ program a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.

Schools in North Collins →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–546
Ages 6–1128
Teens31
Adults14
All ages71
Little ones
0.9

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

7,508
kids’ books & media borrowed
2,723
people at programs
190
programs
The building

Find it

Town of North Collins Public Library, 2095 School Street, North Collins.

30
hours open a week
5,144
square feet
16K
books & media
With a card

No late fees. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.

New in North Collins? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.94 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average North Collins cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$50 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $177K.

Local taxes 94%State 1%Gifts & other 5%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $342K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $177K 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 1,658 cardholders ÷ 12.

Next door

Libraries next door

Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.

12+ loans per resident8–124–8Under 4No library / shared system
TownLibraryLoans per residentHoursCivic life
North CollinsTown of North Collins Public Library fine-free5.730C+
BrantNone of its own——C

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).

How to read these numbers

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 North Collins

Does North Collins have a public library?

Yes. Town of North Collins Public Library, 2095 School Street, serves 3,504 people in and around North Collins (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Town of North Collins Public Library fine-free?

Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).

How busy is North Collins’ library?

It logged 4.0 visits and lent 5.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.

What is North Collins’ civic life grade?

C+ North Collins is ahead of 35% 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 North Collins.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.