U.S. Customshouse · Photo: General Services Administration · Public domainOgdensburg’s library lends 2.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Ogdensburg Public Library serves Ogdensburg’s 10,064 residents. Last year it lent 26K books, movies and e-books and logged 36K visits.
The short version on Ogdensburg’s library
Programs are almost all for children
83% of the 244 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.8 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A place to get online
Ogdensburg Public Library logs about 189 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 14 public computers. That’s 6.9 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Ogdensburg Public Library holds 64,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
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 Ogdensburg’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Ogdensburg is ahead of 49% of U.S. towns, #372 of 751 in New York. Ogdensburg’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
56 community nonprofits are registered in Ogdensburg
5.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (11 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.4%
5.4% of Ogdensburg’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 Ogdensburg’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Ogdensburg Public Library serves 10,064 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
26K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 64K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
4,050 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Ogdensburg last year.
Find it
Ogdensburg Public Library, 312 Washington Street, Ogdensburg.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Ogdensburg? 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 $1.49 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ogdensburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $435K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $647K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $435K 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 7,340 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Ogdensburg ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oswegatchie | Heuvelton Free Library fine-free | 7.6 | 31 | D |
| Ogdensburg | Ogdensburg Public Library | 2.6 | 37 | B− |
| Lisbon | Hepburn Library of Lisbon fine-free | 1.8 | 31 | 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.
- 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 Ogdensburg
Does Ogdensburg have a public library?
Yes. Ogdensburg Public Library, 312 Washington Street, serves Ogdensburg’s 10,064 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ogdensburg 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 Ogdensburg’s library?
It logged 3.5 visits and lent 2.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Ogdensburg’s civic life grade?
B− Ogdensburg is ahead of 49% of U.S. towns on civic life, #372 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 Ogdensburg.
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.