Johnson City Square Deal Arch · Photo: Doug Kerr from Upstate New York · CC BY-SA 2.0Union’s library logs 7.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
George F. Johnson Memorial Library serves 13,667 people in and around Union. Last year it lent 128K books, movies and e-books and logged 100K visits.
Union’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
22,837 cards for 13,667 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 55% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 87% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
People come to George F. Johnson Memorial Library a lot
George F. Johnson Memorial Library logs 7.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 91% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 8 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
52% of the 593 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 222 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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 Union’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Union is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns, #469 of 751 in New York. Union is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($46K–$77K) 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 →
186 community nonprofits are registered in Union
3.4 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 (33 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.3%
7.3% of Union’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 Union’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
George F. Johnson Memorial Library serves 13,667 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 42 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
128K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 95K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
17,695 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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.
2 places to borrow in Union
George F. Johnson Memorial Library, 1001 Park Street, Endicott.
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 Union? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Union
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.90 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Union cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.1M 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 22,837 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Union ranks 2nd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Owego | Apalachin Library Association fine-free | 11.2 | 35 | A− |
| Union | George F. Johnson Memorial Library fine-free | 9.3 | 58 | C+ |
| Endicott | George F. Johnson Memorial Library fine-free | 9.3 | 58 | B+ |
| Johnson City | Your Home Public Library fine-free | 3.2 | 34 | C |
| Vestal | Vestal Public Library fine-free | — | 56 | B+ |
| Binghamton | Broome County Public Library fine-free | — | 60 | B |
| Dickinson | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Maine | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Endwell | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Chenango | 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.
- 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 Union
Does Union have a public library?
Yes. George F. Johnson Memorial Library, 1001 Park Street, serves 13,667 people in and around Union (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is George F. Johnson Memorial 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 Union’s library?
It logged 7.3 visits and lent 9.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Union’s civic life grade?
C+ Union is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns on civic life, #469 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 Union.
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.