Cooperstown’s library is a branch of Oil Region Library Association, which lends less per resident than 62% of systems its size
Cooperstown’s library is the Cooperstown Public Library, a branch of Oil Region Library Association, which serves 36,213 people and lent 121K items last year.
What Cooperstown’s library is like
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
48% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 23%. What your card is worth ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, the Oil Region Library Association system sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on three. How it compares ↓
Open only about 22 hours a week
The Cooperstown branch keeps short hours: about 22 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
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; Cooperstown’s library is a branch of Oil Region Library Association, so they cover the whole system (36,213 people), not just the Cooperstown branch.
What’s behind Cooperstown’s civic life grade
Cooperstown 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 →
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Oil Region Library Association serves 36,213 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Oil Region Library Association system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
121K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
20,514 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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.
Find it
Cooperstown Public Library, 182 N. Main Street, Cooperstown.
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 Oil Region Library Association branch.
New in Cooperstown? 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 $2.07 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cooperstown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $927K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $927K 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 7,170 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Cooperstown Public Library is one branch of Oil Region Library Association, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 36,213 people it serves.
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 Cooperstown
Does Cooperstown have a public library?
Yes: Cooperstown Public Library, 182 N. Main Street, is a branch of Oil Region Library Association, which serves 36,213 people. The branch is open about 22 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Oil Region Library Association 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 Cooperstown’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 3.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Cooperstown’s civic life grade?
Cooperstown 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 Cooperstown.
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.