Goodsell House · Photo: FollowerOfHank · CC BY-SA 4.0Webb’s library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Old Forge Library serves Webb’s 1,797 residents. Last year it lent 20K books, movies and e-books and logged 19K visits.
The short version on Webb’s library
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.9 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. It’s 36% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Programs draw a crowd
7,383 people came to the library’s 236 programs last year: 4.1 per resident, against a typical 0.7, more than at 96% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
People come to Old Forge Library a lot
Old Forge Library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 91% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 7.1 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
30% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 46%. What your card is worth ↓
Nearly everyone in Webb has a card
1,528 cards for 1,797 people, or 85%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Webb’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Webb is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Webb’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
33 community nonprofits are registered in Webb
21.6 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.6%
8.6% of Webb’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 Webb’s residents live; 2022.
236 programs a year
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 Webb last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Old Forge Library serves 1,797 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
20K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 19K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
7,083 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Old Forge Library, 220 Crosby Boulevard, Old Forge.
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 Webb? 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 $1.39 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Webb cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $276K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $384K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $276K 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 1,528 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Webb ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inlet | Town of Inlet Public Library fine-free | 14.7 | 18 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Webb | Old Forge Library fine-free | 11.1 | 41 | A+ |
| Forestport | Woodgate Free Library fine-free | 2.4 | 20 | C+ |
| Long Lake | Raquette Lake Free Library fine-free | — | 23 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Diana | Harrisville Free Library fine-free | — | 40 | B− |
| Ohio | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Fine | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
| Watson | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Greig | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
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 Webb
Does Webb have a public library?
Yes. Old Forge Library, 220 Crosby Boulevard, serves Webb’s 1,797 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Old Forge 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 Webb’s library?
It logged 10.6 visits and lent 11.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Webb’s civic life grade?
A+ Webb is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Webb.
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.