Photo: Uoila1 · Public domainAshton’s library logs 2.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Mills & Petrie Memorial Library and Gymnasium serves Ashton’s 967 residents. Last year it lent 3,512 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,293 visits.
What Ashton’s library is like
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
70% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 28%. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Mills & Petrie Memorial Library and Gymnasium serves 967 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 24 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 ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 72% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 71% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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 Ashton’s civic life grade
Ashton 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 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Mills & Petrie Memorial Library and Gymnasium serves 967 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
3,512 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 18K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
38 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 Ashton last year.
Find it
Mills & Petrie Memorial Library and Gymnasium, 704 North First Street, Ashton.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ashton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $54K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $50K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $54K 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 470 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- 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.
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 Ashton
Does Ashton have a public library?
Yes. Mills & Petrie Memorial Library and Gymnasium, 704 North First Street, serves Ashton’s 967 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 24 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mills & Petrie Memorial Library and Gymnasium fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Ashton’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 3.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Ashton’s civic life grade?
Ashton 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 Ashton.
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.