Photo: Joshua Karn · CC BY-SA 3.0North Tonawanda’s library lends 7.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
North Tonawanda Public Library serves 30,496 people in and around North Tonawanda. Last year it lent 221K print books and media and logged 108K visits.
North Tonawanda’s library, in brief
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
North Tonawanda Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. All five libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
77% of the people it serves carry a library card
23,629 cards for 30,496 people, or 77%. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
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; North Tonawanda Public Library serves 30,496 people in and around North Tonawanda, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind North Tonawanda’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, North Tonawanda is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns, #484 of 751 in New York. Library visits hold the grade up; North Tonawanda’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($50K–$84K) 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 →
90 community nonprofits are registered in North Tonawanda
3.0 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 (13 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.0%
7.0% of North Tonawanda’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 North Tonawanda’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
North Tonawanda Public Library serves 30,496 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 79 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole North Tonawanda Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
221K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
North Tonawanda Public Library, 505 Meadow Drive, North Tonawanda.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every North Tonawanda Public Library branch.
New in North Tonawanda? 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 $2.28 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average North Tonawanda cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.6M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 23,629 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amherst | Amherst Public Library fine-free | 7.6 | 63 | C+ |
| Tonawanda | City of Tonawanda Public Library fine-free | 6.9 | 47 | C |
| Grand Island | Grand Island Memorial Library fine-free | 6.0 | 45 | C+ |
| Tonawanda Town | Kenilworth Branch Library fine-free | 5.1 | 38 | — graded as part of its town |
| Tonawanda | Town of Tonawanda Public Library fine-free | 5.1 | 56 | C− |
| North Tonawanda | North Tonawanda Public Library | — | 54 | C+ |
| Wheatfield | None 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).
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.
- System-wide. North Tonawanda Public Library serves 30,496 people in and around North Tonawanda, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just North Tonawanda.
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 Tonawanda
Does North Tonawanda have a public library?
Yes. North Tonawanda Public Library, 505 Meadow Drive, serves 30,496 people in and around North Tonawanda (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is North Tonawanda Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is North Tonawanda’s library?
It logged 3.6 visits and lent 7.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is North Tonawanda’s civic life grade?
C+ North Tonawanda is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns on civic life, #484 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 North Tonawanda.
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.