Oswegatchie’s library lends 7.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Heuvelton Free Library serves 722 people in and around Oswegatchie. Last year it lent 5,490 print books and media and logged 2,573 visits.
Oswegatchie’s library, in brief
Nearly everyone in Oswegatchie has a card
662 cards for 722 people, or 92%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Heuvelton Free Library offered 6 programs last year, 8.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
A place to get online
Heuvelton Free Library logs about 100 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 4 public computers. That’s 51 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Oswegatchie’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Oswegatchie is ahead of 13% of U.S. towns, #687 of 751 in New York. Oswegatchie is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($64K–$107K) 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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Oswegatchie
1.7 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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.6%
6.6% of Oswegatchie’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 Oswegatchie’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Heuvelton Free Library serves 722 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
5,490 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 9,524 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
6 programs a year
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.
Find it
Heuvelton Free Library, 57 State Street, Heuvelton.
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 Oswegatchie? 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 $2.58 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Oswegatchie cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $75K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $194K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $75K 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 662 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Oswegatchie ranks 3rd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morristown | Morristown Public Library fine-free | 10.9 | 31 | C− |
| De Kalb | Richville Free Library fine-free | 7.9 | 12 | D |
| Oswegatchie | Heuvelton Free Library fine-free | 7.6 | 31 | D |
| Canton | Canton Free Library fine-free | 4.5 | 50 | B− |
| Ogdensburg | Ogdensburg Public Library | 2.6 | 37 | B− |
| Lisbon | Hepburn Library of Lisbon fine-free | 1.8 | 31 | C− |
| De Peyster | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
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 Oswegatchie
Does Oswegatchie have a public library?
Yes. Heuvelton Free Library, 57 State Street, serves 722 people in and around Oswegatchie (the survey’s count) and is open about 31 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Heuvelton Free 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 Oswegatchie’s library?
It logged 3.6 visits and lent 7.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Oswegatchie’s civic life grade?
D Oswegatchie is ahead of 13% of U.S. towns on civic life, #687 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 Oswegatchie.
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.