Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Buffalo’s library runs 6.9 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Buffalo Public Library serves Buffalo’s 1,015 residents. Last year it lent 1,680 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,043 visits.
Buffalo’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, Buffalo Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on seven. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Buffalo Public Library serves 1,015 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 25 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 ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Buffalo Public Library offered 7 programs last year, 6.9 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Buffalo’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Buffalo is ahead of 33% of U.S. towns. Buffalo’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($54K–$90K) 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Buffalo
5.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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.
5.4%
5.4% of Buffalo’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.7% in the typical Oklahoma 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 Buffalo’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Buffalo Public Library serves 1,015 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1,680 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
7 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Buffalo last year.
Find it
Buffalo Public Library, 11 E Turner, Buffalo.
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 $1.01 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Buffalo cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $28K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $29K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $28K 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 267 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Buffalo
Does Buffalo have a public library?
Yes. Buffalo Public Library, 11 E Turner, serves Buffalo’s 1,015 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 25 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Buffalo Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Buffalo’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 1.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Buffalo’s civic life grade?
C Buffalo is ahead of 33% 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 Buffalo.
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.