Photo: Andre Carrotflower · CC BY-SA 4.0Porter’s library logs 4.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Youngstown Free Library serves 4,646 people in and around Porter. Last year it lent 23K books, movies and e-books and logged 20K visits.
Porter’s library, in brief
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
49% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 50%. What your card is worth ↓
Programs draw a crowd
6,995 people came to the system’s 213 programs last year: 1.5 per resident, against a typical 0.5, more than at 90% of similar-size libraries. 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; Youngstown Free Library serves 4,646 people in and around Porter, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Porter’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Porter is ahead of 21% of U.S. towns, #614 of 751 in New York. Porter is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Porter’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
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 →
22 community nonprofits are registered in Porter
3.4 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.4%
5.4% of Porter’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 Porter’s residents live; 2022.
About 2 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Youngstown Free Library serves 4,646 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Youngstown Free Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
23K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,878 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
2 places to borrow in Porter
Youngstown Free Library, 240 Lockport Street, Youngstown.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Youngstown Free Library branch.
New in Porter? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Youngstown Free Library branches in Porter
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.66 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Porter cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $164K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $437K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $164K 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 1,571 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ransomville | Ransomville Free Library | 14.9 | 31 | — graded as part of its town |
| Wilson | Wilson Community Library fine-free | 4.6 | 46 | B |
| Porter | Youngstown Free Library fine-free | — | 34 | C− |
| Lewiston | Lewiston Public Library | — | 41 | C |
| Youngstown | Youngstown Free Library fine-free | — | 34 | 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.
- System-wide. Youngstown Free Library serves 4,646 people in and around Porter, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Porter.
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 Porter
Does Porter have a public library?
Yes. Youngstown Free Library, 240 Lockport Street, serves 4,646 people in and around Porter (the survey’s count) and is open about 34 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Youngstown 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 Porter’s library?
It logged 4.2 visits and lent 5.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Porter’s civic life grade?
C− Porter is ahead of 21% of U.S. towns on civic life, #614 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 Porter.
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.