Photo: Thomas Cole · Public domainSchroon’s library logs 13 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Schroon Lake Public Library serves Schroon’s 1,880 residents. Last year it lent 25K books, movies and e-books and logged 25K visits.
Schroon’s library, in brief
Schroon uses its library more than almost any town its size
Schroon Lake Public Library logs 13 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 12 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 92% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
More library cards than residents
2,076 cards for 1,880 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 55% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 94% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 44 items per child in Schroon last year. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Schroon Lake Public Library serves 1,880 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 30 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 ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Schroon Lake Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Two of the three libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Schroon’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Schroon is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
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 →
20 community nonprofits are registered in Schroon
10.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (5 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.
8.4%
8.4% of Schroon’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 Schroon’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Schroon Lake Public Library serves 1,880 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
25K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 26K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
1,835 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Schroon last year.
Find it
Schroon Lake Public Library, 15 Leland Avenue, Schroon Lake.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Schroon? 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 $2.95 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Schroon cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $138K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $408K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $138K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 2,076 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Schroon borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schroon | Schroon Lake Public Library | 13.5 | 30 | A |
| Ticonderoga | Ticonderoga Black Watch Memorial Library fine-free | 3.7 | 35 | B |
| Horicon | Horicon Free Public Library | 2.7 | 20 | B− |
| Crown Point | Hammond Library of Crown Point fine-free | — | 25 | D− |
| North Hudson | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Minerva | 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.
- 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 Schroon
Does Schroon have a public library?
Yes. Schroon Lake Public Library, 15 Leland Avenue, serves Schroon’s 1,880 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Schroon Lake Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Schroon’s library?
It logged 13.2 visits and lent 13.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Schroon’s civic life grade?
A Schroon is ahead of 94% 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 Schroon.
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.