Photo: ToddC4176 · CC BY-SA 3.0Dartmouth’s library logs 4.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Dartmouth Public Libraries serves Dartmouth’s 33,406 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 213K print books and media and logged 137K visits.
The short version on Dartmouth’s library
Open about 97 hours a week
The main library is open about 97 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 30 items go out. The buildings ↓
Programs are almost all for children
84% of the 545 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 5.8 a week for ages 0–5. 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 Dartmouth’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Dartmouth is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns, #159 of 283 in Massachusetts. Library visits hold the grade up; Dartmouth’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
112 community nonprofits are registered in Dartmouth
3.4 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 (14 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.
7.6%
7.6% of Dartmouth’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 Dartmouth’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Dartmouth Public Libraries serves 33,406 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 30 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
213K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 125K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.7 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 9 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 Dartmouth last year.
2 places to borrow in Dartmouth
Dartmouth Public Libraries, 732 Dartmouth Street, Dartmouth.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Dartmouth? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Dartmouth
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.30 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Dartmouth cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.5M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 11,333 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Dartmouth ranks 2nd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gosnold | Cuttyhunk Public Library fine-free | 24.3 | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Dartmouth | Dartmouth Public Libraries | 6.4 | 97 | B− |
| Bliss Corner | Dartmouth Public Libraries | 6.4 | 97 | — graded as part of its town |
| Smith Mills | North Branch Library | 6.4 | 41 | — graded as part of its town |
| Westport | Westport Free Public Library fine-free | 4.1 | 47 | C+ |
| New Bedford | New Bedford Free Public Library | 1.7 | — | C− |
| North Westport | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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 Dartmouth
Does Dartmouth have a public library?
Yes. Dartmouth Public Libraries, 732 Dartmouth Street, serves Dartmouth’s 33,406 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 97 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dartmouth Public Libraries fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Dartmouth’s library?
It logged 4.1 visits and lent 6.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Dartmouth’s civic life grade?
B− Dartmouth is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns on civic life, #159 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 Dartmouth.
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.