The 2020 Census is on!

I’m sure most of us remember the 2010 census, and the usual census takers knocking on doors to ask a series of questions about the people living in your house.

It happens every ten years, and, for the most part, the process has been unchanged since the first census in 1790. Until now!!

For the first time ever the 2020 census will be primarily Self-Initiated.

This means that the people coming around to knock on doors will be the last resort instead of the first.

Instead, this census the American people are asked to self-report.

This process will hopefully save the federal government money and manpower. There is also the hope that this process will allow us to report back more trustworthy numbers.

As you probably remember, the 2010 census reported New York State’s population so low that the state lost two seats in the US House of Representatives.

It is estimated now that New York State was undercounted roughly 20-25%.

Partially this is due to the undercounting of homeless populations, but also the dramatic undercounting of people in rural areas like Perry.

Self-Initiated means that it’s in our control now! We can make sure that we are properly counted, and therefore, state and federal money is appropriated to us fairly.

Letters will be coming to every address mid-March. These letters will have instructions on how to respond to the census online or by phone.

Each house will receive three reminder letters.

The final letter will have a paper census form that can be filled out and mailed in.

If you have any questions or concerns about the census your local library is ready and willing to help out.

Remember – You Can Make Perry Count!!!

-- PMSA thanks Jessica Pacciotti, Director, Perry Public Library for this article 

Have Census Questions?

Call the Perry Library at 237-2243 or email a member of the library team.

Remember: The importance of responding to the census cannot be overstated.