Whitney Point’s library lends 19 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Mary Wilcox Memorial Library serves Whitney Point’s 960 residents. Last year it lent 19K print books and media and logged 7,426 visits.
What Whitney Point’s library is like
More library cards than residents
1,967 cards for 960 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 56% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 45 items per child in Whitney Point last year. Kids & programs ↓
Whitney Point is a town of borrowers
Mary Wilcox Memorial Library lends 19 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 97% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
New York pays a big share
43% of the budget comes from the state, and 48% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Mary Wilcox Memorial Library serves 960 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 38 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
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 Whitney Point’s civic life grade
Whitney Point isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
About 1 kids’ program 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 Whitney Point last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Mary Wilcox Memorial Library serves 960 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.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
19K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 17K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Mary Wilcox Memorial Library, 2630 Main Street, Whitney Point.
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 Whitney Point? 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 $1.19 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Whitney Point cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $241K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $288K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $241K 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 1,967 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. New York libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Whitney Point
Does Whitney Point have a public library?
Yes. Mary Wilcox Memorial Library, 2630 Main Street, serves Whitney Point’s 960 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mary Wilcox 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 Whitney Point’s library?
It logged 7.7 visits and lent 19.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Whitney Point’s civic life grade?
Whitney Point isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Whitney Point.
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.