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 4.0Springfield’s library logs 2.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Springfield Library serves Springfield’s 1,346 residents. Last year it lent 3,774 print books and media and logged 2,849 visits.
Springfield’s library, in brief
A small-town library
Springfield Library serves 1,346 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
Springfield Library keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Village Library of Cooperstown in Otsego, next door, is open about 50 hours a week. The building ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 15% of the people Springfield Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 68% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 61% 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 Springfield’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Springfield is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns. Springfield is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Springfield’s count of community nonprofits ranks 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 →
15 community nonprofits are registered in Springfield
15.5 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.5%
9.5% of Springfield’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 Springfield’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Springfield Library serves 1,346 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
3,774 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
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 Springfield last year.
Find it
Springfield Library, 129 County Route 29a, Springfield Center.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Springfield? 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 $1.69 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Springfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $38K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $65K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $38K 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 204 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Springfield ranks 3rd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richfield | Richfield Springs Public Library fine-free | 10.8 | 33 | B− |
| Cherry Valley | Cherry Valley Memorial Library fine-free | 3.1 | 20 | A− |
| Springfield | Springfield Library fine-free | 2.8 | 20 | A+ |
| Springfield Center | Springfield Library fine-free | 2.8 | 20 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Otsego | Village Library of Cooperstown fine-free | — | 50 | A |
| Warren | Jordanville Public Library fine-free | — | 20 | C |
| Stark | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Middlefield | None of its own | — | — | A+ |
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 Springfield
Does Springfield have a public library?
Yes. Springfield Library, 129 County Route 29a, serves Springfield’s 1,346 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Springfield 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 Springfield’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 2.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Springfield’s civic life grade?
A+ Springfield is ahead of 95% 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 Springfield.
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.