Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Dennis Port’s library logs 7.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Dennis Public Library serves 8,950 people in and around Dennis Port. Last year it lent 71K print books and media and logged 63K visits.
Dennis Port’s library, in brief
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Dennis Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. All four libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Dennis Public Library serves more than Dennis Port
The library’s service area covers 8,950 people in and around Dennis Port, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
A place to get online
Dennis Public Library logs about 200 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 21 public computers. That’s 8.2 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
Programs lean toward adults
50% of the 284 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 106 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Dennis Port invests in its library
Dennis Public Library spends $86 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (98%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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 Dennis Port’s civic life grade
Dennis Port isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Every hour the doors are open, about 37 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Dennis Public Library serves 8,950 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Books and media off the shelf
71K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 41K 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 2 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.
Find it
Dennis Public Library, 5 Hall St., Dennis Port.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Dennis Port? 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 $1.76 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Dennis Port cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $773K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $773K 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 5,248 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Dennis Port ranks 4th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dennis | Dennis Memorial Library Assoc. fine-free | 31.1 | 34 | B+ |
| Harwich | Brooks Free Library fine-free | 14.6 | 46 | A− |
| West Dennis | West Dennis Free Public Library fine-free | 9.6 | 23 | — graded as part of its town |
| Dennis Port | Dennis Public Library | 7.9 | 37 | — graded as part of its town |
| Northwest Harwich | Chase Library Assoc., Inc. fine-free | 7.8 | 10 | — graded as part of its town |
| South Dennis | 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 Dennis Port
Does Dennis Port have a public library?
Yes. Dennis Public Library, 5 Hall St., serves 8,950 people in and around Dennis Port (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dennis Public Library 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 Dennis Port’s library?
It logged 7.1 visits and lent 7.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Dennis Port’s civic life grade?
Dennis Port isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Dennis Port.
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.