Photo: formulanone from Huntsville, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0Trenton’s library lends 0.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Prospect Free Library serves 1,070 people in and around Trenton. Last year it lent 1,533 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,331 visits.
What Trenton’s library is like
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
38% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 59%. What your card is worth ↓
People visit, but borrow less than most
Prospect Free Library lends 0.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, fewer than 94% of similar-size libraries, though visits are closer to typical. What people borrow ↓
45% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 45% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. 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; Prospect Free Library serves 1,070 people in and around Trenton, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Trenton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Trenton is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns, #355 of 751 in New York. Trenton is graded on two of the three inputs. Trenton’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 →
23 community nonprofits are registered in Trenton
5.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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.
6.3%
6.3% of Trenton’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 Trenton’s residents live; 2022.
45% of borrowing is digital
1,533 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
690 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 under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Prospect Free Library serves 1,070 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Prospect Free Library system. The library’s own count.
43 programs a year
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.
3 places to borrow in Trenton
Prospect Free Library, 116 Upper State Street, Prospect.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Prospect Free Library branch.
New in Trenton? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Prospect Free Library branches in Trenton
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.11 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Trenton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $30K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $33K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $30K 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 245 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Remsen | Didymus Thomas Library fine-free | 26.3 | 21 | B− |
| Trenton | Prospect Free Library fine-free | — | 23 | B− |
| Russia | Poland District Public Library fine-free | — | 28 | C− |
| Prospect | Prospect Free Library fine-free | — | 23 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Floyd | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Marcy | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Deerfield | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Steuben | None of its own | — | — | B |
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. Prospect Free Library serves 1,070 people in and around Trenton, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Trenton.
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 Trenton
Does Trenton have a public library?
Yes. Prospect Free Library, 116 Upper State Street, serves 1,070 people in and around Trenton (the survey’s count) and is open about 23 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Prospect Free 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 Trenton’s library?
It logged 3.1 visits and lent 1.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Trenton’s civic life grade?
B− Trenton is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns on civic life, #355 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 Trenton.
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.