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 4.0Richfield’s library runs 218 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Richfield Springs Public Library serves 1,050 people in and around Richfield. Last year it lent 11K print books and media and logged 8,392 visits.
The short version on Richfield’s library
A small-town library
Richfield Springs Public Library serves 1,050 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 33 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Nearly everyone in Richfield has a card
969 cards for 1,050 people, or 92%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Richfield is a town of borrowers
Richfield Springs Public Library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 88% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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 Richfield’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Richfield is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns. Richfield is graded on two of the three inputs. Richfield’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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in Richfield
6.0 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.
5.8%
5.8% of Richfield’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 Richfield’s residents live; 2022.
About 2 kids’ programs 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Richfield Springs Public Library serves 1,050 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
11K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 14K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Richfield Springs Public Library, 102 Main Street, Richfield Springs.
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 Richfield? 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 $1.99 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Richfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $96K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $192K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $96K 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 969 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Richfield ranks 2nd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winfield | West Winfield Library | 15.6 | 25 | B |
| Richfield | Richfield Springs Public Library fine-free | 10.8 | 33 | B− |
| Richfield Springs | Richfield Springs Public Library fine-free | 10.8 | 33 | B+ |
| Springfield | Springfield Library fine-free | 2.8 | 20 | A+ |
| Warren | Jordanville Public Library fine-free | — | 20 | C |
| Otsego | Village Library of Cooperstown fine-free | — | 50 | A |
| Plainfield | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
| Exeter | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Columbia | None 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).
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 Richfield
Does Richfield have a public library?
Yes. Richfield Springs Public Library, 102 Main Street, serves 1,050 people in and around Richfield (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Richfield Springs 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 Richfield’s library?
It logged 8.0 visits and lent 10.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Richfield’s civic life grade?
B− Richfield is ahead of 52% 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 Richfield.
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.