Photo: PopePompus · CC BY-SA 4.0Bussey’s library logs 6.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Bussey Community Library serves Bussey’s 418 residents. Last year it lent 929 print books and media and logged 2,539 visits.
Bussey’s library, in brief
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 75% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 27%. The building also logs about 2 Wi-Fi sessions a day. A year at the library ↓
A small-town library
Bussey Community Library serves 418 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 23 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
25% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 72%. What your card is worth ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Bussey’s civic life grade
Bussey 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 3 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Bussey Community Library serves 418 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Bussey Community Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
929 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
27 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Bussey last year.
Find it
Bussey Community Library, 401 Merrill St., Bussey.
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 $1.13 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bussey cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $19K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $22K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $19K 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 207 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Bussey
Does Bussey have a public library?
Yes. Bussey Community Library, 401 Merrill St., serves Bussey’s 418 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 23 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bussey Community Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Bussey’s library?
It logged 6.1 visits and lent 2.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Bussey’s civic life grade?
Bussey 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 Bussey.
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.