Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Easthampton’s library lends 6.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Easthampton Public Library serves 16,045 people in and around Easthampton. Last year it lent 105K print books and media and logged 61K visits.
What stands out about Easthampton’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Easthampton’s civic life grade
On library visits and community nonprofits, Easthampton is ahead of 18% of U.S. towns, #254 of 283 in Massachusetts. Easthampton is graded on two of the three inputs. Library visits hold the grade up; Easthampton’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($54K–$90K) 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 →
Easthampton has few registered community nonprofits
0.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Easthampton Public Library serves 16,045 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 40 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
105K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 39K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.7 times 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.
Find it
Easthampton Public Library, 9 Park St., Easthampton.
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 Easthampton? 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 $3.46 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Easthampton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $468K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $468K 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 7,877 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Easthampton ranks 4th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northampton | Forbes Library fine-free | 14.7 | 53 | A+ |
| Hadley | Hadley Public Library fine-free | 11.7 | 34 | A |
| Southampton | Edwards Public Library fine-free | 7.6 | 37 | B− |
| Easthampton | Easthampton Public Library fine-free | 6.5 | 51 | C− |
| Holyoke | Holyoke Public Library fine-free | 1.2 | 51 | C |
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 Easthampton
Does Easthampton have a public library?
Yes. Easthampton Public Library, 9 Park St., serves 16,045 people in and around Easthampton (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Easthampton 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 Easthampton’s library?
It logged 3.8 visits and lent 6.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Easthampton’s civic life grade?
C− Easthampton is ahead of 18% of U.S. towns on civic life, #254 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 Easthampton.
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.