Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0Whitestown’s library runs 42 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Dunham Public Library serves 25,194 people in and around Whitestown. Last year it lent 108K books, movies and e-books and logged 90K visits.
Whitestown’s library, in brief
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Dunham Public Library ran 1,055 programs last year, about 20 a week. That’s 42 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Programs lean toward adults
64% of the 1,055 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 346 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; Dunham Public Library serves 25,194 people in and around Whitestown, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Whitestown’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Whitestown is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns, #682 of 751 in New York. Whitestown is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Whitestown’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($60K–$100K) 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 →
52 community nonprofits are registered in Whitestown
2.9 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.0%
5.0% of Whitestown’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 Whitestown’s residents live; 2022.
About 7 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 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Dunham Public Library serves 25,194 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 37 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Dunham Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
108K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
22,170 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
3 places to borrow in Whitestown
Dunham Public Library, 76 Main Street, Whitesboro.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Dunham Public Library branch.
New in Whitestown? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Dunham Public Library branches in Whitestown
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.40 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Whitestown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.3M 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 8,355 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kirkland | Kirkland Town Library fine-free | 8.0 | 59 | B+ |
| New Hartford | New Hartford Public Library | 5.8 | 44 | C |
| Rome | Jervis Public Library fine-free | 5.3 | 61 | C |
| Utica | Utica Public Library fine-free | 1.2 | 55 | D |
| Whitestown | Dunham Public Library fine-free | — | 56 | D |
| Marcy | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Westmoreland | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Yorkville | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Clark Mills | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Floyd | None of its own | — | — | D− |
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. Dunham Public Library serves 25,194 people in and around Whitestown, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Whitestown.
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 Whitestown
Does Whitestown have a public library?
Yes. Dunham Public Library, 76 Main Street, serves 25,194 people in and around Whitestown (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dunham Public 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 Whitestown’s library?
It logged 3.6 visits and lent 4.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Whitestown’s civic life grade?
D Whitestown is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns on civic life, #682 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 Whitestown.
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.