Sherman Free Library
Sherman Free Library serves 4,716 people in and around Port Henry. Last year it lent 2,103 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,823 visits.
What stands out about Sherman Free Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
A National Register landmark since 1995
Sherman Free Library, 20 Church Street, Port Henry.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Port Henry? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Sherman Free Library
Sherman Free Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jun 1, 1995. It is significant for its education and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Late Victorian and Romanesque. It was listed as part of Moriah MPS.
Sherman Free Library is an historic free association library, located in the hamlet of Port Henry, in the town of Moriah, in Essex County, New York. It was built in 1887 and has two rooms, and is a 1+1⁄2-story brick building topped by slate-covered, steeply pitched gable roofs, on a limestone foundation. An addition was built in 1907. It features deeply arched fenestration in the Richardsonian Romanesque style.
More about the building →What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Port Henry cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $45K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $35K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $45K 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 1,237 cardholders ÷ 12.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Close to typical for its size
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S. A tiny town’s library always looks busier per person, so it’s only compared with its own size.
library systems for visits per resident.
Sherman Free Library serves 4,716 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
2,103 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
5 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Port Henry | Sherman Free Library fine-free | 0.4 | 27 |
| Moriah | Sherman Free Library fine-free | 0.4 | 27 |
| Crown Point | Hammond Library of Crown Point fine-free | — | 25 |
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.
About these numbers
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Hours are an average. The survey reports a building’s public hours for the whole year. We divide by the weeks it was open, so check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
- Compared by size. “Similar-size” means libraries serving about as many people, nationwide. Per-resident numbers always flatter the smallest towns, so they’re never compared with big cities.
- 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.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Port Henry.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.