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Prattsburg Free Library

Prattsburgh’s library logs 2.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size

Prattsburg Free Library serves Prattsburgh’s 1,983 residents. Last year it lent 6,811 books, movies and e-books and logged 5,218 visits.

26 Main Street, Prattsburgh 14873 · about 31 hours a week
B+Civic lifeAhead of 72% of U.S. towns. Library visits, nonprofits and volunteering.
Borrowed a year
6,811
3.4 per resident
Visits a year
5,218
2.6 per resident · Below typical (3.5)
Programs & events
106
about 2 a week · 931 attended
Cardholders
28%
554 cards
Open
31 hrs
a week

What stands out about Prattsburgh’s library

Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Prattsburgh’s civic life grade

On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Prattsburgh is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.

B+
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Prattsburgh’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 72%
FewerMore
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $58K–$96K (9,222)Ahead of 71%

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.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. Prattsburgh is small (1,980 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

9 community nonprofits are registered in Prattsburgh

5.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture20.93 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation10.52 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans20.99 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services00.12 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education21.34 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals20.99 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other10.47 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

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.

Volunteering

10.2%

10.2% of Prattsburgh’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 Prattsburgh’s residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 2.6 visits · typical 3.5Lower than 64%
Borrowing per resident 3.1 print items · typical 3.9Lower than 59%
Digital borrowing 0.3 e-items · typical 1Lower than 71%
Kids’ borrowing 1.6 kids’ items · typical 1.4Higher than 55%
Program attendance 0.5 attendees · typical 0.7Lower than 62%
Programs offered 53.5 per 1,000 residents · typical 60Lower than 54%
Cardholders 28% of residents · typical 54%Lower than 80%
Spending $55 per resident · typical $54Higher than 51%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Prattsburg Free Library serves 1,983 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out

Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.

5,218
visits
2.6 per resident
6,811
loans, print + digital
3.4 per resident
106
programs & events
931 attended
554
library cards
28% of people served
Every open hour4items borrowed
Every week18people at a program
Every day12Wi-Fi sessions
1 staff (full-time equivalent)2 public computers8,305 books & media on the shelves
What people borrow

More than half the print loans are kids’ books

6,811 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

6,811loans
Books & media (adults) 44%Kids’ books & media 46%E-books, audio & streaming 10%
How hard the shelves work
0.7×

Each of the 8,305 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.

From your couch

679 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

106 programs a year

Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.

Schools in Prattsburgh →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–511
Ages 6–1140
Teens0
Adults13
All ages42
Little ones
0.2

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

Kids’ books
9

children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Prattsburgh last year.

931
people at programs
106
programs
The building

Find it

Prattsburgh Free Library, 26 Main Street, Prattsburgh.

31
hours open a week
4,320
square feet
8,305
books & media
With a card

No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.

New in Prattsburgh? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.12 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Prattsburgh cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
1
Your card saves you about
$240
a year at retail prices · $20 a month

Who pays for it
$55 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $108K.

Local taxes 81%State 1%Gifts & other 17%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $121K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $108K 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 554 cardholders ÷ 12.

Next door

Libraries next door

Prattsburgh ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.

12+ loans per resident8–124–8Under 4No library / shared system
TownLibraryLoans per residentHoursCivic life
UrbanaFred & Harriett Taylor Memorial Library fine-free11.243A−
PulteneyPulteney Free Library fine-free4.026A
PrattsburghPrattsburgh Free Library fine-free3.431B+
CohoctonCohocton Public Library fine-free—44B+
ItalyNone of its own——A−
WheelerNone of its own——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).

How to read these numbers

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 Prattsburgh

Does Prattsburgh have a public library?

Yes. Prattsburg Free Library, 26 Main Street, serves Prattsburgh’s 1,983 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 31 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Prattsburg 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 Prattsburgh’s library?

It logged 2.6 visits and lent 3.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.

What is Prattsburgh’s civic life grade?

B+ Prattsburgh is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Prattsburgh.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.