Vernon Methodist Church · Photo: Agreen54 · CC BY-SA 4.0Vernon’s library runs 100 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Sherrill-Kenwood Free Library serves 3,577 people in and around Vernon. Last year it lent 30K books, movies and e-books and logged 19K visits.
What stands out about Sherrill-Kenwood Free Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Vernon’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Vernon is ahead of 11% of U.S. towns, #704 of 751 in New York. Vernon is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Vernon’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($58K–$97K) 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 →
21 community nonprofits are registered in Vernon
2.6 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.1%
5.1% of Vernon’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 Vernon’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 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.
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.
Sherrill-Kenwood Free Library serves 3,577 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Sherrill-Kenwood Free Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
30K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
6,734 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
2 places to borrow in Vernon
Sherrill-Kenwood Free Library, 543 Sherrill Road, Sherrill.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Sherrill-Kenwood Free Library branch.
New in Vernon? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Sherrill-Kenwood Free Library branches in Vernon
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.25 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Vernon cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $219K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $493K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $219K 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 2,333 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Augusta | C. W. Clark Memorial Library | 15.6 | 38 | C |
| Kirkland | Kirkland Town Library fine-free | 8.0 | 59 | B+ |
| Vernon | Sherrill-Kenwood Free Library fine-free | — | 45 | D |
| Oneida | Oneida Public Library | — | 58 | B |
| Sherrill | Sherrill-Kenwood Free Library fine-free | — | 45 | B− |
| Oneida Castle | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Verona | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Westmoreland | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Stockbridge | 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. Sherrill-Kenwood Free Library serves 3,577 people in and around Vernon, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Vernon.
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 Vernon
Does Vernon have a public library?
Yes. Sherrill-Kenwood Free Library, 543 Sherrill Road, serves 3,577 people in and around Vernon (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sherrill-Kenwood 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 Vernon’s library?
It logged 5.4 visits and lent 8.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Vernon’s civic life grade?
D Vernon is ahead of 11% of U.S. towns on civic life, #704 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 Vernon.
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.