Skip to content
Finger Lakes Library System at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Finger Lakes Library System

To stimulate, coordinate and strengthen library and information services within cayuga, cortland, seneca, tioga, and tompkins counties.

$90k
Granted FY2024still arriving
16
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$558k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2024.

Education$1.1MMembership Benefit$558kCrime & Legal$461kArts & Culture$10k
02FY2024 · 16 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k7 grants · $52k
  • $10k–50k8 grants · $134k
  • $250k+1 grant · $558k
$10,993
Median grant
1
States reached
$4.5M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Tompkins County Public Librar$558,094
Cortland Free Library$25,322
Groton Public Library$23,340
Ulysses Phiomathic Library$20,514
Seneca Falls Library$14,993
Seymour Public Library Dist$14,776
Hazard Library Association$13,493
Southworth Library Assoc$10,993
Cady Library$10,742
Lamont Memorial Free Library$9,623
Phillips Free Library$8,594
Lansing Community Library$8,532
Newfield Public Library$7,993
Peck Memorial Library Assoc$6,566
Waterloo Library & Historical$5,579
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY18–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 94% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%SPRINGPORT FREE LIBRARY: $11k → 13%Waterloo Library & Historical: $28k → 14%Lamont Memorial Free Library: $10k → 15%Southworth Library Assoc: $13k → 16%Stewart B Lang Memorial Libra: $10k → 13%WATERLOO LIBRARY & HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $17k → 14%Lamont Memorial Free Library: $9k → 15%SOUTHWORTH LIBRARY ASSOCIATION: $12k → 16%EDITH B FORD MEMORIAL LIBRARY OF OVID NEW YORK: $24k → 14%PECK MEMORIAL LIBRARY ASSOCIATION INC: $37k → 15%Southworth Library Assoc: $11k → 16%Cady Library: $11k → 11%Weedsport Free Library: $20k → 13%Waterloo Library & Historical: $15k → 14%Groton Public Library: $23k → 16%SEYMOUR PUBLIC LIBRARY DISTRICT: $20k → 13%Edith B Ford Memorial Library: $9k → 14%Cortland Free Library: $25k → 15%Groton Public Library: $15k → 16%Seymour Public Library Dist: $19k → 13%Cortland Free Library: $16k → 15%Seymour Public Library Dist: $16k → 13%CORTLAND FREE LIBRARY: $15k → 15%APALACHIN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION: $14k → 11%Seymour Public Library Dist: $15k → 13%Cortland Free Library: $13k → 15%Seymour Public Library Dist: $14k → 13%Seneca Falls Library: $15k → 14%Cortland Free Library: $12k → 15%Seymour Public Library Dist: $11k → 13%SENECA FALLS LIBRARY: $13k → 14%Cortland Free Library: $12k → 15%Seymour Public Library Dist: $10k → 13%Cortland Free Library: $9k → 15%Port Byron Library Inc: $15k → 13%Ulysses Phiomathic Library: $21k → 16%INTERLAKEN PUBLIC LIBRARY: $16k → 14%AURORA FREE LIBRARY: $11k → 13%Interlaken Public Library: $12k → 14%Tompkins County Public Librar: $558k → 16%Lodi Whittier Library Assoc: $17k → 14%Tompkins County Public Librar: $138k → 16%LODI WHITTIER LIBRARY ASSOCIATION INC: $12k → 14%TOMPKINS COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY: $133k → 16%Tompkins County Public Librar: $131k → 16%Tompkins County Public Librar: $123k → 16%Tompkins County Public Librar: $37k → 16%Tompkins County Public Librar: $33k → 16%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

97%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.0M · 26 repeat orgs$64k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +32% since the first grant, against +18% for those funded once.

26 repeat relationships: 16 still active in FY2024, 10 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

26
6

Total granted

$2.0M
$64k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+32%
+18%

Still filing today

88%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • SP
    SEYMOUR PUBLIC LIBRARY DISTRICT
    8× · 2017–2024 · $106k · revenue +30%
  • CF
    CORTLAND FREE LIBRARY
    8× · 2017–2024 · $103k · revenue +150%
  • SF
    SENECA FALLS LIBRARY
    6× · 2017–2024 · $46k · revenue +47%

Funded once

  • WF
    WEEDSPORT FREE LIBRARY
    one grant, 2022 · $20k · revenue 0%
  • SF
    SPRINGPORT FREE LIBRARY
    one grant, 2018 · $11k · revenue +18%
  • AF
    AURORA FREE LIBRARYgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $11k · revenue +44%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Mountain Lakes Free Public Library

The mission of the Mountain Lakes Free Public Library is to provide free access to books, periodicals, magazines, audio, video, digital and internet media

Education
2
Morris Plains Library Association

Public Library providing books and computer network to the public

Education
3
New Ipswich Library
—
4
Tupper Lake Public Library

The tupper lake library is a source of information for the public

Education
5
William B Ogden Free Library

To provide library services to local area residents.

Education
6
Field Memorial Library
—
7
The Public Library of New London

The Public Library of New London is a private, not-for-profit institution that serves the needs of the New London community by providing free access to diverse ideas and information through a variety of library materials, services, and…

Education
8
Schoharie Free Library Assocation

Library Association To help patrons obtain information that meets their personal, educational and professional needs.

Education
9
Lyons Public Library

Provide library materials and services to residents of lyons, ny and the surrounding area.

Education
10
Western Pocono Community Library

Public Library open free of charge to all members of the community

—
11
Simsbury Free Library
Education
12
Riverton Free Library Association
—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Stewart B Lang Memorial Library; the most unlike its peers is Hazard Library Association. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

28 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 28 of the 32 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
9
Early backer (in before they grew)
27/28
Grantees still filing
20/28
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

TOMPKINS COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY: $1,151,986 · OtherTOMPKINS COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY+14 more: $299,595 · Other+14 moreSEYMOUR PUBLIC LIBRARY DISTRICT: $106,036 · EducationSEYMOUR PUBLIC LIBRARY DISTRICTCORTLAND FREE LIBRARY: $102,643 · EducationCORTLAND FREE LIBRARYWATERLOO LIBRARY AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC: $70,725 · EducationWATERLOO LIBRARY AND HISTORICAL SO…GROTON PUBLIC LIBRARY: $57,915 · EducationGROTON PUBLIC LIBRARYSENECA FALLS LIBRARY: $46,107 · EducationSENECA FALLS LIBRARYTHE SOUTHWORTH LIBRARY ASSOCIATION: $36,135 · EducationTHE SOUTHWORTH LIBRARY ASSOCIATIONLansing Community Library: $30,831 · EducationPHILLIPS FREE LIBRARY: $29,495 · EducationULYSSES PHILOMATHIC LIBRARY: $27,419 · EducationApalachin Library Association: $21,346 · EducationPort Byron Library Inc: $21,196 · Education+6 more: $84,190 · Education+6 more
Other$1,451,581Education$634,038

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetSEYMOUR PUBLIC LIBRARY DISTRICT: $106,036 over 8y, 1.6% of budgetCORTLAND FREE LIBRARY: $102,643 over 8y, 2.7% of budgetWATERLOO LIBRARY AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC: $70,725 over 5y, 5.5% of budgetGROTON PUBLIC LIBRARY: $57,915 over 5y, 7.5% of budgetSENECA FALLS LIBRARY: $46,107 over 6y, 3.3% of budgetPECK MEMORIAL LIBRARY ASSOCIATION INC: $43,079 over 2y, 26% of budgetEdith B Ford Memorial Library: $38,062 over 3y, 4.0% of budgetTHE SOUTHWORTH LIBRARY ASSOCIATION: $36,135 over 3y, 5.4% of budgetLansing Community Library: $30,831 over 4y, 3.3% of budgetPHILLIPS FREE LIBRARY: $29,495 over 4y, 3.5% of budgetLODI WHITTIER LIBRARY: $28,985 over 2y, 11% of budgetInterlaken Public Library: $28,589 over 2y, 19% of budgetULYSSES PHILOMATHIC LIBRARY: $27,419 over 2y, 4.9% of budgetHAZARD LIBRARY ASSOCIATION: $26,411 over 2y, 14% of budgetApalachin Library Association: $21,346 over 2y, 4.0% of budgetPort Byron Library Inc: $21,196 over 2y, 12% of budgetWEEDSPORT FREE LIBRARY: $20,401 over 1y, 13% of budgetLAMONT MEMORIAL FREE LIBRARY: $18,751 over 2y, 8.1% of budgetBerkshire Free Library: $18,061 over 3y, 8.9% of budgetCandor Free Library: $16,867 over 3y, 8.3% of budgetNEWFIELD PUBLIC LIBRARY: $14,921 over 2y, 3.9% of budgetSTEWART B LANG MEMORIAL LIBRARY: $14,796 over 2y, 8.6% of budgetWAVERLY FREE LIBRARY: $11,421 over 2y, 8.4% of budgetAURORA FREE LIBRARY: $11,418 over 1y, 8.9% of budgetCoburn Free Library: $7,928 over 1y, 4.8% of budgetPOWERS LIBRARY: $6,418 over 1y, 4.6% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Community Foundation …Nelson B Delavan Foun…Tioga County Senior C…Ralph R Wilkins Found…Legacy Foundation of …Central New York Comm…Dollar General Litera…Ibm International Fou…Amazonsmile Foundation
Community Foundation of Tompkins County IncNY53.3× affinity23 shared granteesties to 8 of 8Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Foundation of Tompkins County Inc · Nelson B Delavan Found Part a Xxxxx9000 · Tioga County Senior Citizens Foundation · Ralph R Wilkins Foundation Inc · Legacy Foundation of Tompkins County · Central New York Community Foundation Inc · Dollar General Literacy Foundation · Ibm International Foundation · Amazonsmile Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Finger Lakes Library System funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Finger Lakes Library System. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    20report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Finger Lakes Library System?

    Find your warmest path to Finger Lakes Library System through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

    Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 32 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Finger Lakes Library System’s filings →

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home