Photo: ToddC4176 · CC BY-SA 3.0Becket’s library logs 4.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Becket Athenaeum, Inc. serves Becket’s 2,428 residents. Last year it lent 7,163 print books and media and logged 11K visits.
Becket’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
51% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 44%. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Becket Athenaeum, Inc. serves 2,428 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 25 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 ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 17% of the people Becket Athenaeum, Inc. serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
53% of the 168 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 73 were for children. 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 Becket’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Becket is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Becket’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
15 community nonprofits are registered in Becket
7.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.1%
10.1% of Becket’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 Becket’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Becket Athenaeum, Inc. serves 2,428 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
7,163 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 8,225 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Becket last year.
Find it
Becket Athenaeum, Inc., 3367 Main Street, Route 8, Becket.
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 Becket? The Handbook →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 Becket cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $131K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $127K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $131K 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 415 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Becket ranks 3rd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lee | Lee Library Association fine-free | 6.5 | 43 | B |
| Otis | Otis Library and Museum fine-free | 5.7 | 27 | B+ |
| Becket | Becket Athenaeum, Inc. fine-free | 3.0 | 25 | A |
| Chester | Hamilton Memorial Library fine-free | 2.9 | 17 | B |
| Middlefield | Middlefield Public Library fine-free | 2.8 | 19 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Tyringham | Tyringham Free Public Library fine-free | 2.3 | 10 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Washington | None of its own | — | — | — 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.
- 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 Becket
Does Becket have a public library?
Yes. Becket Athenaeum, Inc., 3367 Main Street, Route 8, serves Becket’s 2,428 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 25 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Becket Athenaeum, 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 Becket’s library?
It logged 4.3 visits and lent 3.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Becket’s civic life grade?
A Becket is ahead of 88% 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 Becket.
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.