Photo: Dclemens1971 · CC BY 4.0Speculator’s library runs 206 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Town of Lake Pleasant Public Library serves 897 people in and around Speculator. Last year it lent 9,261 books, movies and e-books and logged 6,861 visits.
Speculator’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
1,318 cards for 897 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 ↓
Programs draw a crowd
3,378 people came to the library’s 185 programs last year: 3.8 per resident, against a typical 0.7, more than at 95% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Town of Lake Pleasant Public Library serves more than Speculator
The library’s service area covers 897 people in and around Speculator, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
A place to get online
Town of Lake Pleasant Public Library logs about 13 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 6 public computers. That’s 5.3 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
Speculator invests in its library
Town of Lake Pleasant Public Library spends $145 per resident a year, about twice the typical $54 for a library its size. 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 Speculator’s civic life grade
Speculator isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
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 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Town of Lake Pleasant Public Library serves 897 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.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
9,261 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
1,875 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Town of Lake Pleasant Public Library, 2864 State Hwy 8, Speculator.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Speculator? 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 $1.45 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Speculator cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $130K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $189K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $130K 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 1,318 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Speculator 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Speculator | Town of Lake Pleasant Public Library | 10.3 | 26 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Lake Pleasant | Town of Lake Pleasant Public Library | 10.3 | 26 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Indian Lake | Town of Indian Lake Public Library fine-free | 10.3 | 36 | A |
| Wells | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Arietta | 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 Speculator
Does Speculator have a public library?
Yes. Town of Lake Pleasant Public Library, 2864 State Hwy 8, serves 897 people in and around Speculator (the survey’s count) and is open about 26 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Town of Lake Pleasant 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 Speculator’s library?
It logged 7.6 visits and lent 10.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Speculator’s civic life grade?
Speculator isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Speculator.
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.