Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Amherst Town’s library lends 8.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Jones Library, Inc. serves Amherst Town’s 40,059 residents from 3 locations. Last year it lent 353K print books and media and logged 164K visits.
What Amherst Town’s library is like
Open about 81 hours a week
The main library is open about 81 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 62 items go out. The buildings ↓
Top 10% in Massachusetts for kids’ borrowing
Amherst Town ranks #14 of 268 Massachusetts towns with a library of their own for children’s items borrowed per child. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
68% of the 844 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 183 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Three places to borrow in Amherst Town
Amherst Town’s library system runs three locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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.
What’s behind Amherst Town’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Amherst Town is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns, #59 of 283 in Massachusetts. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
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 →
177 community nonprofits are registered in Amherst Town
4.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (26 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 11 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
13.5%
13.5% of Amherst Town’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.9% in the typical Massachusetts town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Amherst Town’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
353K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 145K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.4 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Jones Library, Inc. serves 40,059 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 62 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 4 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Amherst Town last year.
3 places to borrow in Amherst Town
Jones Library, Inc., 43 Amity Street, Amherst.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Amherst Town? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Amherst Town
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.86 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Amherst Town cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3M 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 22,353 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Amherst Town ranks 6th of 8 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pelham | Pelham Library fine-free | 19.3 | 25 | B+ |
| Leverett | Leverett Library fine-free | 17.0 | 19 | A+ |
| Shutesbury | M. N. Spear Memorial Library fine-free | 14.5 | 27 | A |
| Hadley | Hadley Public Library fine-free | 11.7 | 34 | A |
| Granby | Granby Free Public Library fine-free | 10.7 | 31 | B+ |
| Amherst Town | Jones Library, Inc. fine-free | 8.8 | 81 | A− |
| South Hadley | South Hadley Public Library fine-free | 7.8 | 66 | A− |
| Belchertown | Clapp Memorial Library fine-free | 5.5 | 44 | A− |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. Massachusetts libraries often don’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 Amherst Town
Does Amherst Town have a public library?
Yes. Jones Library, Inc., 43 Amity Street, serves Amherst Town’s 40,059 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 81 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Jones Library, Inc. 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 Amherst Town’s library?
It logged 4.1 visits and lent 8.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Amherst Town’s civic life grade?
A− Amherst Town is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns on civic life, #59 of 283 in Massachusetts. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Amherst Town.
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.