Ulysses’ library runs 23 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Ulysses Library serves 1,242 people in and around Ulysses. Last year it lent 6,627 books, movies and e-books and logged 4,334 visits.
What stands out about Ulysses Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Ulysses’ civic life grade
Ulysses 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Ulysses Library serves 1,242 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Ulysses Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
6,627 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
917 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
29 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Ulysses Library, 401 North Main St., Ulysses.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Ulysses Library branch.
New in Ulysses? 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 $1.50 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ulysses cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $71K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $106K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $71K 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 832 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ulysses | Ulysses Library fine-free | — | 35 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Ulysses Township | 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.
- System-wide. Ulysses Library serves 1,242 people in and around Ulysses, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Ulysses.
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 Ulysses
Does Ulysses have a public library?
Yes. Ulysses Library, 401 North Main St., serves 1,242 people in and around Ulysses (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ulysses 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 Ulysses’ library?
It logged 3.5 visits and lent 5.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Ulysses’ civic life grade?
Ulysses 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 Ulysses.
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.