Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0Russia’s library logs 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Poland District Public Library serves 3,982 people in and around Russia. Last year it lent 15K books, movies and e-books and logged 2,650 visits.
What Russia’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, Poland District Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on five. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Poland District Public Library offered 22 programs last year, 5.5 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
Poland District Public Library records 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, below 94% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 3 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
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; Poland District Public Library serves 3,982 people in and around Russia, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Russia’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Russia is ahead of 23% of U.S. towns. Russia is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Poland District Public Library spends $17 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($65K–$108K) 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Russia
2.9 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.4%
6.4% of Russia’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 Russia’s 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.
Poland District Public Library serves 3,982 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, for the whole Poland District Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
15K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,079 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
22 programs a year
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.
Find it
Poland District Public Library, 8849 Main Street, Poland.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Poland District Public Library branch.
New in Russia? 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 $3.75 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Russia cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $66K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $248K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $66K 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 844 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Remsen | Didymus Thomas Library fine-free | 26.3 | 21 | B− |
| Newport | Newport Free Library fine-free | 10.1 | 25 | B+ |
| Russia | Poland District Public Library fine-free | — | 28 | C− |
| Trenton | Prospect Free Library fine-free | — | 23 | B− |
| Prospect | Prospect Free Library fine-free | — | 23 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Poland | Poland District Public Library fine-free | — | 28 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Deerfield | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Ohio | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Norway | 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.
- System-wide. Poland District Public Library serves 3,982 people in and around Russia, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Russia.
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 Russia
Does Russia have a public library?
Yes. Poland District Public Library, 8849 Main Street, serves 3,982 people in and around Russia (the survey’s count) and is open about 28 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Poland District 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 Russia’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 3.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Russia’s civic life grade?
C− Russia is ahead of 23% 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 Russia.
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.