Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Syracuse’s library lends 0.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Onondaga County Public Library serves 476,516 people in and around Syracuse from 11 locations. Last year it lent 1.2M books, movies and e-books and logged 497K visits.
Syracuse’s library, in brief
Onondaga County Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Onondaga County Public Library records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people. Borrowing is 0.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2. How it compares ↓
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 73% of loans, more per resident than at 61% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 27%. What people borrow ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 15% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 41% for its size. How it compares ↓
11 branches in Syracuse
Syracuse has 11 branches of the Onondaga County Public Library, which serves 476,516 people in and around Syracuse. One card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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; Onondaga County Public Library serves 476,516 people in and around Syracuse, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Syracuse’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Syracuse is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns, #531 of 751 in New York. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #156. Syracuse is graded on two of the three inputs. Syracuse’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($36K–$60K) 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 →
644 community nonprofits are registered in Syracuse
4.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (146 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 24 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.2%
5.2% of Syracuse’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 Syracuse’s residents live; 2022.
73% of borrowing is digital
1.2M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
886,506 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Onondaga County Public Library serves 476,516 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 49 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Onondaga County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 30 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.
11 places to borrow in Syracuse
Onondaga County Public Library, The Galleries, 447 S. Salina St., Syracuse.
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 Onondaga County Public Library branch.
New in Syracuse? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Onondaga County Public Library branches in Syracuse
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.41 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Syracuse cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $13M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $19M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $13M 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 73,731 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Onondaga | Onondaga Free Library fine-free | 13.1 | 60 | C+ |
| East Syracuse | East Syracuse Free Library fine-free | 12.6 | 49 | B+ |
| Geddes | Solvay Public Library fine-free | 9.0 | 55 | C+ |
| Solvay | Solvay Public Library fine-free | 9.0 | 55 | B |
| Salina | Salina Free Library fine-free | 5.9 | 49 | C− |
| Syracuse | Onondaga County Public Library fine-free | — | 54 | C |
| DeWitt | Community Library of Dewitt & Jamesville fine-free | — | 60 | B+ |
| Lyncourt | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Westvale | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Nedrow | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Galeville | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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. Onondaga County Public Library serves 476,516 people in and around Syracuse, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Syracuse.
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 Syracuse
Does Syracuse have a public library?
Yes. Onondaga County Public Library, The Galleries, 447 S. Salina St., serves 476,516 people in and around Syracuse (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Onondaga County 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 Syracuse’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 2.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Syracuse’s civic life grade?
C Syracuse is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns on civic life, #531 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 Syracuse.
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.