Rock Island Light Station · Photo: Oralrobert33 · CC BY-SA 4.0Orleans’ library lends 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Orleans Public Library serves Orleans’s 2,788 residents. Last year it lent 1,471 print books and media and logged 2,502 visits.
The short version on Orleans’s library
Orleans Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Orleans Public Library records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $25 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 11% of the people Orleans Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
A place to get online
Orleans Public Library logs about 43 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 2 public computers. That’s 5.6 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 58% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 90% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. 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 Orleans’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Orleans is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns, #449 of 751 in New York. Orleans’ count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($58K–$97K) 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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Orleans
5.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.9%
7.9% of Orleans’ 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 Orleans’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Orleans Public Library serves 2,788 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1,471 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Orleans last year.
2 places to borrow in Orleans
Orleans Public Library, 36263 Nys Route 180, Lafargeville.
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 Orleans? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Orleans
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.24 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Orleans cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $70K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $87K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $70K 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 307 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Orleans ranks 6th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thousand Island Park | Thousand Island Park Library fine-free | 30.0 | 32 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Alexandria | Macsherry Library | 13.8 | 50 | A− |
| Le Ray | Sally Ploof Hunter Memorial Library fine-free | 10.5 | 43 | D |
| Theresa | Theresa Free Library fine-free | 1.8 | 25 | B− |
| Brownville | Dexter Free Library fine-free | 0.9 | 27 | C |
| Orleans | Orleans Public Library fine-free | 0.5 | 28 | C+ |
| Clayton | Depauville Free Library fine-free | 0.3 | 37 | C+ |
| Pamelia | None of its own | — | — | D− |
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.
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 Orleans
Does Orleans have a public library?
Yes. Orleans Public Library, 36263 Nys Route 180, serves Orleans’ 2,788 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 28 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Orleans 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 Orleans’ library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 0.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Orleans’ civic life grade?
C+ Orleans is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns on civic life, #449 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 Orleans.
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.