Brimfield Center Historic District · Photo: Daderot · CC0Brimfield’s library logs 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Brimfield Public Library serves Brimfield’s 3,690 residents. Last year it lent 12K print books and media and logged 4,364 visits.
The short version on Brimfield’s library
Few residents carry a card
Only 8% of the people Brimfield Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
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 Brimfield’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Brimfield is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns, #175 of 283 in Massachusetts. Brimfield’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
20 community nonprofits are registered in Brimfield
5.4 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.
8.2%
8.2% of Brimfield’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 Brimfield’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Brimfield Public Library serves 3,690 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
12K 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 0.7 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
46 programs a year
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 Brimfield last year.
Find it
Brimfield Public Library, 25 Main Street, Brimfield.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Brimfield? 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 $1.46 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Brimfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $129K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $188K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $129K 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 312 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Brimfield ranks 5th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sturbridge | Joshua Hyde Public Library fine-free | 7.5 | 50 | B+ |
| Palmer Town | Palmer Public Library fine-free | 6.5 | 42 | C+ |
| Monson | Monson Free Library & Reading Room fine-free | 3.6 | 37 | B− |
| Warren | Warren Public Library | 3.6 | 23 | B+ |
| Brimfield | Brimfield Public Library fine-free | 3.4 | 26 | C+ |
| Holland | Holland Public Library | 2.6 | 29 | C |
| Wales | Wales Public Library fine-free | 1.3 | 18 | C− |
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 Brimfield
Does Brimfield have a public library?
Yes. Brimfield Public Library, 25 Main Street, serves Brimfield’s 3,690 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 26 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Brimfield Public 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 Brimfield’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 3.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Brimfield’s civic life grade?
C+ Brimfield is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns on civic life, #175 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 Brimfield.
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.