Photo: ToddC4176 · CC BY-SA 3.0Charlemont’s library logs 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Tyler Memorial Library serves Charlemont’s 1,535 residents. Last year it lent 2,351 print books and media and logged 1,059 visits.
The short version on Charlemont’s library
Tyler Memorial Library is used less than most libraries its size
Tyler Memorial Library records 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 1.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $20 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
Every town next door borrows more
Charlemont’s library lends 1.5 items per resident. Each of the seven neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Shelburne at 25. Libraries next door ↓
Open only about 12 hours a week
Tyler Memorial Library keeps short hours: about 12 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Griswold Memorial Library in Colrain, next door, is open about 30 hours a week. The building ↓
A small-town library
Tyler Memorial Library serves 1,535 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 ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 13% of the people Tyler Memorial Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Charlemont’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Charlemont is among the top 1% of U.S. towns. Charlemont is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Charlemont’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 →
13 community nonprofits are registered in Charlemont
12.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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.
12.0%
12.0% of Charlemont’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 Charlemont’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Tyler Memorial Library serves 1,535 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.
Books and media off the shelf
2,351 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 5,750 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
25 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.
Find it
Tyler Memorial Library, 157 Main St., Charlemont.
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 Charlemont? 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 $1.33 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Charlemont cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $31K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $41K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $31K 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 193 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Charlemont ranks 8th of 8 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shelburne | Arms Library fine-free | 25.1 | 25 | A+ |
| Shelburne Falls | Arms Library fine-free | 25.1 | 25 | — graded as part of its town |
| Rowe | Rowe Town Library fine-free | 19.4 | 23 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Heath | Heath Free Public Library fine-free | 12.8 | 16 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Colrain | Griswold Memorial Library fine-free | 10.6 | 30 | B+ |
| Buckland | Buckland Public Library fine-free | 7.1 | 14 | A+ |
| Florida | Florida Public Library fine-free | 2.5 | 28 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Charlemont | Tyler Memorial Library fine-free | 1.5 | 12 | A+ |
| Hawley | 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 Charlemont
Does Charlemont have a public library?
Yes. Tyler Memorial Library, 157 Main St., serves Charlemont’s 1,535 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 12 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Tyler 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 Charlemont’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 1.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Charlemont’s civic life grade?
A+ Charlemont is among the top 1% 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 Charlemont.
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.