Burkeville Covered Bridge · Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 4.0Conway’s library lends 7.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Field Memorial Library serves Conway’s 1,760 residents. Last year it lent 13K print books and media and logged 3,397 visits.
The short version on Conway’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
95% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 5%. What your card is worth ↓
Open only about 11 hours a week
Field Memorial Library keeps short hours: about 11 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Tilton Library in Deerfield, next door, is open about 29 hours a week. The building ↓
People borrow more than they stay
Borrowing per resident is higher than at 76% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 76%. People come in, pick up their books and go. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Field Memorial Library serves 1,760 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 17% of the people Field 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 Conway’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Conway is ahead of 80% 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 →
13 community nonprofits are registered in Conway
7.3 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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
17.6%
17.6% of Conway’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 Conway’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Field Memorial Library serves 1,760 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 22 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
13K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card.
11 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 Conway last year.
Find it
Field Memorial Library, 1 Elm Street, Conway.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting.
New in Conway? 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 $2.73 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Conway cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $76K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $207K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $76K 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 293 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Conway ranks 4th of 7 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+ |
| Ashfield | Belding Memorial Library fine-free | 17.1 | 18 | A |
| Deerfield | Tilton Library fine-free | 7.4 | 29 | A− |
| Conway | Field Memorial Library fine-free | 7.1 | 11 | A− |
| Buckland | Buckland Public Library fine-free | 7.1 | 14 | A+ |
| Whately | S. White Dickinson Memorial Library fine-free | 4.6 | 24 | A− |
| Goshen | Goshen Free Public Library | 1.3 | 12 | — 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 Conway
Does Conway have a public library?
Yes. Field Memorial Library, 1 Elm Street, serves Conway’s 1,760 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 11 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Field Memorial Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Conway’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 7.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Conway’s civic life grade?
A− Conway is ahead of 80% 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 Conway.
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.