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Adams-Ryan HouseAdams-Ryan House · Photo: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD · CC BY-SA 4.0
Ogden Farmers' Library

Ogden’s library lends 5.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size

Ogden Farmers' Library serves Ogden’s 20,270 residents. Last year it lent 133K books, movies and e-books and logged 50K visits.

269 Ogden Center Road, Spencerport 14559 · about 58 hours a week
C−Civic lifeAhead of 17% of U.S. towns · #657 of 751 in New York. Library visits, nonprofits and volunteering.
Borrowed a year
133K
6.6 per resident
Visits a year
50K
2.5 per resident · Below typical (3.1)
Programs & events
307
about 6 a week · 8,474 attended
Cardholders
36%
7,276 cards
Open
58 hrs
a week

What stands out about Ogden’s library

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

Civic life grade

What’s behind Ogden’s civic life grade

On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Ogden is ahead of 17% of U.S. towns, #657 of 751 in New York. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.

C−
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Ogden’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 17%
FewerMore
New York towns we grade (751)Ahead of 13%
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $69K–$114K (8,216)Ahead of 16%

Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($69K–$114K) 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 any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. 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

59 community nonprofits are registered in Ogden

2.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture30.15 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation80.41 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans150.74 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services110.56 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education60.32 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health50.24 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals20.09 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other80.40 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (14 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.

Volunteering

5.0%

5.0% of Ogden’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 Ogden’s residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 2.5 visits · typical 3.1Lower than 61%
Borrowing per resident 5.3 print items · typical 3.9Higher than 65%
Digital borrowing 1.3 e-items · typical 1.1Higher than 57%
Kids’ borrowing 2.5 kids’ items · typical 1.8Higher than 65%
Program attendance 0.4 attendees · typical 0.4Lower than 51%
Programs offered 15.1 per 1,000 residents · typical 24Lower than 71%
Cardholders 36% of residents · typical 40%Lower than 58%
Spending $36 per resident · typical $43Lower than 61%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Ranked in NY#161Most-used librariesof 241 towns
#95Most library borrowingof 241 towns
#96Best libraries for kidsof 241 towns
Size group

Ogden Farmers' Library serves 20,270 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 44 items go out

Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.

50K
visits
2.5 per resident
133K
loans, print + digital
6.6 per resident
307
programs & events
8,474 attended
7,276
library cards
36% of people served
Every open hour44items borrowed
Every week163people at a program
Every day10Wi-Fi sessions
10 staff (full-time equivalent)8 public computers52K books & media on the shelves
What people borrow

Almost half the print loans are kids’ books

133K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

133Kloans
Books & media (adults) 42%Kids’ books & media 38%E-books, audio & streaming 20%
How hard the shelves work
2×

Each of the 52K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2 times last year, on average.

From your couch

26,429 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

About 4 kids’ programs a week

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

Schools in Ogden →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–5100
Ages 6–1185
Teens61
Adults52
All ages9
Little ones
1.9

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

Kids’ books
11

children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Ogden last year.

8,474
people at programs
307
programs
The building

Find it

Ogden Farmers' Library, 269 Ogden Center Road, Spencerport.

58
hours open a week
12,000
square feet
52K
books & media
With a card

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 Ogden? 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 $2.83 worth

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

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
1
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
$348
a year at retail prices · $29 a month

Who pays for it
$36 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $726K.

Local taxes 87%State 4%Gifts & other 9%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $726K 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 7,276 cardholders ÷ 12.

Next door

Libraries next door

Ogden ranks 2nd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.

12+ loans per resident8–124–8Under 4No library / shared system
TownLibraryLoans per residentHoursCivic life
GatesGates Public Library8.559C−
OgdenOgden Farmers' Library fine-free6.658C−
ParmaParma Public Library fine-free5.749D
RigaNewman Riga Library3.339C
BergenByron-Bergen Public Library—15B+
SwedenNone 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.

  • The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.

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 Ogden

Does Ogden have a public library?

Yes. Ogden Farmers' Library, 269 Ogden Center Road, serves Ogden’s 20,270 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Ogden Farmers' 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 Ogden’s library?

It logged 2.5 visits and lent 6.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.

What is Ogden’s civic life grade?

C− Ogden is ahead of 17% of U.S. towns on civic life, #657 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 Ogden.

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.