Photo: Asn87 · CC BY-SA 3.0Dighton’s library logs 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Dighton Public Library serves Dighton’s 8,168 residents. Last year it lent 20K print books and media and logged 12K visits.
What Dighton’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, Dighton Public Library sits below the middle on all six per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
69% of the 270 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.2 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Dighton Public Library holds 34,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years last year. What people borrow ↓
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 Dighton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Dighton is ahead of 18% of U.S. towns, #253 of 283 in Massachusetts. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Dighton’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Dighton’s 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($102K–$171K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
28 community nonprofits are registered in Dighton
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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.2%
6.2% of Dighton’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 Dighton’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Dighton Public Library serves 8,168 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
20K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 34K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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 Dighton last year.
Find it
Dighton Public Library, 979 Somerset Ave., Dighton.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Dighton? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Dighton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $320K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $302K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $320K 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 2,344 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Dighton ranks 4th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
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. Dighton 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 Dighton
Does Dighton have a public library?
Yes. Dighton Public Library, 979 Somerset Ave., serves Dighton’s 8,168 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dighton 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 Dighton’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 2.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Dighton’s civic life grade?
C− Dighton is ahead of 18% of U.S. towns on civic life, #253 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 Dighton.
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.