Photo: ToddC4176 · CC BY-SA 3.0Ashfield’s library lends 17 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Belding Memorial Library serves Ashfield’s 1,688 residents. Last year it lent 29K print books and media and logged 4,900 visits.
Ashfield’s library, in brief
Ashfield out-borrows every town next door
At 17 loans per resident, Ashfield leads the five towns here. The closest is Plainfield, at 8.4. Libraries next door ↓
People borrow more than they stay
Borrowing per resident is higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 59%. People come in, pick up their books and go. How it compares ↓
Open only about 18 hours a week
Belding Memorial Library keeps short hours: about 18 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Belding Memorial Library serves 1,688 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 37% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 46 items per child in Ashfield last year. 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 Ashfield’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Ashfield is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
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 →
21 community nonprofits are registered in Ashfield
11.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
17.3%
17.3% of Ashfield’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 Ashfield’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
29K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 17K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.7 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 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Belding Memorial Library serves 1,688 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
140 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 Ashfield last year.
Find it
Belding Memorial Library, 344 Main St., Ashfield.
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 Ashfield? 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 $5.52 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ashfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $82K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $451K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $82K 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 1,019 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Ashfield borrows the most per resident of the 5 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashfield | Belding Memorial Library fine-free | 17.1 | 18 | A |
| Plainfield | Shaw Memorial Library | 8.4 | 12 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Conway | Field Memorial Library fine-free | 7.1 | 11 | A− |
| Goshen | Goshen Free Public Library | 1.3 | 12 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Cummington | Bryant Free Library fine-free | 0.8 | 9 | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Belding Memorial Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- 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 Ashfield
Does Ashfield have a public library?
Yes. Belding Memorial Library, 344 Main St., serves Ashfield’s 1,688 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 18 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Belding Memorial 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 Ashfield’s library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 17.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Ashfield’s civic life grade?
A Ashfield is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Ashfield.
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.