Photo: LBM1948 · CC BY-SA 4.0Ulysses’ library lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Ulysses Philomathic Library serves Ulysses’s 4,890 residents. Last year it lent 69K books, movies and e-books and logged 27K visits.
What Ulysses’s library is like
Ulysses ranks 3rd in New York for kids’ borrowing
Out of 241 New York towns with a library of their own, Ulysses comes 3rd for children’s items borrowed per child. It’s also #12 for borrowing. How it compares ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Ulysses Philomathic Library ran 506 programs last year, about 10 a week. That’s 103 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 7,225 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Ulysses is a town of borrowers
Ulysses Philomathic Library lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 94% of similar-size libraries. Each item on the shelves went out about 2.3 times last year. What people borrow ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 46% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 38 items per child in Ulysses last year. Kids & programs ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
28% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 64%. 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.
What’s behind Ulysses’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Ulysses is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns, #13 of 751 in New York. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
37 community nonprofits are registered in Ulysses
7.6 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.
24.8%
24.8% of Ulysses’ 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 Ulysses’ residents live; 2022.
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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Ulysses last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Ulysses Philomathic Library serves 4,890 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
69K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 25K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.3 times last year, on average.
10,575 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Ulysses Philomathic Library, 74 East Main Street, Trumansburg.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Ulysses? 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 $2.52 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ulysses cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $434K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $434K 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 2,754 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.
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Ulysses Philomathic Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Ulysses
Does Ulysses have a public library?
Yes. Ulysses Philomathic Library, 74 East Main Street, serves Ulysses’ 4,890 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ulysses Philomathic 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 Ulysses’ library?
It logged 5.6 visits and lent 14.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Ulysses’ civic life grade?
A+ Ulysses is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns on civic life, #13 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 Ulysses.
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.