Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Plattsburgh’s library logs 3.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Plattsburgh Public Library serves Plattsburgh’s 19,841 residents. Last year it lent 75K books, movies and e-books and logged 74K visits.
Plattsburgh’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
32,257 cards for 19,841 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Plattsburgh Public Library offered 151 programs last year, 7.6 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. 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 Plattsburgh’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Plattsburgh is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns, #308 of 751 in New York. Plattsburgh’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 →
141 community nonprofits are registered in Plattsburgh
7.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (18 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.7%
5.7% of Plattsburgh’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 Plattsburgh’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Plattsburgh Public Library serves 19,841 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 26 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
75K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 66K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
13,767 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. 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 Plattsburgh last year.
Find it
Plattsburgh Public Library, 19 Oak Street, Plattsburgh.
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 Plattsburgh? 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 $1.32 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Plattsburgh cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $917K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $917K 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 32,257 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plattsburgh | Plattsburgh Public Library fine-free | 3.8 | 56 | B |
| Parc | 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 Plattsburgh
Does Plattsburgh have a public library?
Yes. Plattsburgh Public Library, 19 Oak Street, serves Plattsburgh’s 19,841 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Plattsburgh 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 Plattsburgh’s library?
It logged 3.7 visits and lent 3.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Plattsburgh’s civic life grade?
B Plattsburgh is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns on civic life, #308 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 Plattsburgh.
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.