Stein House · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Ashland’s library logs 12 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Ashland Library serves Ashland’s 724 residents. Last year it lent 8,215 books, movies and e-books and logged 8,903 visits.
What Ashland’s library is like
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
67% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 21%. What your card is worth ↓
Five times the programs of a typical library its size
Ashland Library ran 208 programs last year, about 4 a week. That’s 287 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60. People show up: 2,978 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Ashland uses its library more than almost any town its size
Ashland Library logs 12 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 9.3 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 85% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Ashland Library serves 724 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 44 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 ↓
Programs are almost all for children
80% of the 208 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 25 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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 Ashland’s civic life grade
Ashland 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 →
About 3 kids’ programs a week
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 Ashland last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Ashland Library serves 724 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
8,215 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 19K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
1,507 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Ashland Library, 604 Main, Ashland.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Ashland? The Handbook →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 $1.24 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ashland cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $150K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $187K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $150K 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 363 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 Ashland
Does Ashland have a public library?
Yes. Ashland Library, 604 Main, serves Ashland’s 724 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ashland Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Ashland’s library?
It logged 12.3 visits and lent 11.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Ashland’s civic life grade?
Ashland 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 Ashland.
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.