Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 4.0Paris’ library logs 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Clayville Library Association serves Paris’s 4,332 residents. Last year it lent 12K books, movies and e-books and logged 6,079 visits.
What Paris’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, Clayville Library Association sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Clayville Library Association charges late fines on some overdue items. Two of the three libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
76% of the 62 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 41 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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 Paris’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Paris is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns, #465 of 751 in New York. Paris’ count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($70K–$117K) 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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Paris
4.4 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.2%
8.2% of Paris’ 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 Paris’ residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Clayville Library Association serves 4,332 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
12K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 15K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
3,635 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
62 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Paris last year.
Find it
Clayville Library Association, 2265 Oneida Street, Clayville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Paris? 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 $2.18 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Paris cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $91K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $197K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $91K 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 1,193 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Paris ranks 3rd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kirkland | Kirkland Town Library fine-free | 8.0 | 59 | B+ |
| New Hartford | New Hartford Public Library | 5.8 | 44 | C |
| Paris | Clayville Library Association | 2.8 | 24 | C+ |
| Bridgewater | Bridgewater Free Library fine-free | 0.8 | 21 | B− |
| Litchfield | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Marshall | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Chadwicks | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 Paris
Does Paris have a public library?
Yes. Clayville Library Association, 2265 Oneida Street, serves Paris’ 4,332 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 24 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Clayville Library Association 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 Paris’ library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 2.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Paris’ civic life grade?
C+ Paris is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns on civic life, #465 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 Paris.
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.