Photo: Hayden Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Sag Harbor’s library runs 148 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
John Jermain Memorial Library serves 8,545 people in and around Sag Harbor. Last year it lent 101K books, movies and e-books and logged 58K visits.
The short version on Sag Harbor’s library
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
John Jermain Memorial Library ran 1,265 programs last year, about 24 a week. That’s 148 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 18,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
46% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 46% of loans, more per resident than at 97% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 54%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
A well-funded system
John Jermain Memorial Library spends $293 per resident a year, about seven times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (87%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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; John Jermain Memorial Library serves 8,545 people in and around Sag Harbor, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Sag Harbor’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sag Harbor is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns, #240 of 751 in New York. Sag Harbor is graded on two of the three inputs. Sag Harbor’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 →
24 community nonprofits are registered in Sag Harbor
9.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.0%
6.0% of Sag Harbor’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 Sag Harbor’s residents live; 2022.
About 11 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
John Jermain Memorial Library serves 8,545 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 32 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole John Jermain Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
46% of borrowing is digital
101K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
46,023 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
John Jermain Memorial Library, 201 Main Street, Sag Harbor.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every John Jermain Memorial Library branch.
New in Sag Harbor? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sag Harbor cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $2.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.5M 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 5,349 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sag Harbor | John Jermain Memorial Library fine-free | — | 60 | B+ |
| Noyack | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Northwest Harbor | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Wainscott | 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. John Jermain Memorial Library serves 8,545 people in and around Sag Harbor, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Sag Harbor.
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 Sag Harbor
Does Sag Harbor have a public library?
Yes. John Jermain Memorial Library, 201 Main Street, serves 8,545 people in and around Sag Harbor (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is John Jermain Memorial 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 Sag Harbor’s library?
It logged 6.8 visits and lent 11.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Sag Harbor’s civic life grade?
B+ Sag Harbor is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns on civic life, #240 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 Sag Harbor.
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.