Photo: James H Dunning · CC BY 2.5Williamson’s library lends 7.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Williamson Public Library serves Williamson’s 6,860 residents. Last year it lent 63K books, movies and e-books and logged 26K visits.
What Williamson’s library is like
Above typical on nearly every measure
Against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, Williamson Public Library is above the middle on six of the seven per-resident measures we compare, and close to it on the other, with five in the top 30%. No single number stands out, and none lags far behind. How it compares ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Williamson Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. All three libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
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 Williamson’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Williamson is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns, #260 of 751 in New York. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Williamson’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
25 community nonprofits are registered in Williamson
3.6 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.
9.3%
9.3% of Williamson’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 Williamson’s residents live; 2022.
About 5 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Williamson last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Williamson Public Library serves 6,860 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 23 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
63K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 39K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
14,734 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Williamson Public Library, 6380 Route 21, Suite 1, Williamson.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Williamson? 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 $2.16 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Williamson cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $466K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $466K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 2,804 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Williamson borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Williamson | Williamson Public Library | 9.2 | 54 | B |
| Ontario | Ontario Public Library fine-free | 7.3 | 39 | B |
| Marion | Marion Public Library fine-free | 5.3 | 34 | B+ |
| Sodus | Sodus Community Library fine-free | — | 59 | A− |
| Pultneyville | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 Williamson
Does Williamson have a public library?
Yes. Williamson Public Library, 6380 Route 21, Suite 1, serves Williamson’s 6,860 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Williamson Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Williamson’s library?
It logged 3.8 visits and lent 9.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Williamson’s civic life grade?
B Williamson is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns on civic life, #260 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 Williamson.
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.