Photo: Apw250 · CC BY 4.0Dalton’s library lends 8.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Dalton Free Public Library serves Dalton’s 6,236 residents. Last year it lent 53K print books and media and logged 36K visits.
What Dalton’s library is like
Programs are almost all for children
90% of the 213 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.2 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Dalton out-borrows every town next door
At 8.4 loans per resident, Dalton leads the five towns here. The closest is Windsor, at 8.2. Libraries next door ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 49% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 87% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 20 items per child in Dalton 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.
What’s behind Dalton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Dalton is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns, #111 of 283 in Massachusetts. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls 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 →
33 community nonprofits are registered in Dalton
5.3 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 (4 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.
6.3%
6.3% of Dalton’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 Dalton’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 kids’ programs 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 Dalton last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Dalton Free Public Library serves 6,236 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
53K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 46K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Dalton Free Public Library, 462 Main Street, Dalton.
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 Dalton? 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 $3.42 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Dalton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $238K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $813K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $238K 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 2,578 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Dalton 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dalton | Dalton Free Public Library fine-free | 8.4 | 33 | B+ |
| Windsor | Windsor Free Public Library fine-free | 8.2 | 10 | — graded with its twin city |
| Hinsdale | Hinsdale Public Library fine-free | 4.4 | 23 | B− |
| Pittsfield | Berkshire Athenaeum fine-free | 3.9 | 61 | B− |
| Cheshire | Cheshire Public Library fine-free | 1.5 | 15 | C− |
| 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Dalton Free Public 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 Dalton
Does Dalton have a public library?
Yes. Dalton Free Public Library, 462 Main Street, serves Dalton’s 6,236 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dalton Free 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 Dalton’s library?
It logged 5.8 visits and lent 8.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Dalton’s civic life grade?
B+ Dalton is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns on civic life, #111 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 Dalton.
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.