Photo: Don Ramey Logan · CC BY-SA 4.0Edgartown’s library logs 15 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Edgartown Free Public Library serves Edgartown’s 5,266 residents. Last year it lent 67K print books and media and logged 81K visits.
What Edgartown’s library is like
Edgartown ranks 2nd in Massachusetts for kids’ borrowing
Out of 268 Massachusetts towns with a library of their own, Edgartown comes 2nd for children’s items borrowed per child. It’s also #6 for library use. How it compares ↓
Edgartown uses its library more than almost any town its size
Edgartown Free Public Library logs 15 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 13 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 96% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 58% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 74 items per child in Edgartown last year. Kids & programs ↓
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Edgartown Free Public Library ran 742 programs last year, about 14 a week. That’s 141 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 14,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
More library cards than residents
5,645 cards for 5,266 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
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 Edgartown’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Edgartown is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns, #14 of 283 in Massachusetts. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
Edgartown Free Public Library logged 15.5 visits per resident in FY2024, #63 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare. The survey counts every visit, residents or not, and libraries don’t report how many come from out of town.
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 →
54 community nonprofits are registered in Edgartown
10.2 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.2%
9.2% of Edgartown’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 Edgartown’s residents live; 2022.
About 6 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 Edgartown last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Edgartown Free Public Library serves 5,266 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.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
67K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 47K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.4 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Edgartown Free Public Library, 26 West Tisbury Road, Edgartown.
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 Edgartown? 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 $1.11 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Edgartown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.1M 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 5,645 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Edgartown ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Tisbury | West Tisbury Free Public Library fine-free | 34.6 | 51 | A+ |
| Oak Bluffs | Oak Bluffs Public Library fine-free | 13.8 | 38 | A+ |
| Edgartown | Edgartown Free Public Library fine-free | 12.7 | 42 | A+ |
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 count everyone. Edgartown’s 81,480 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
- 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 Edgartown
Does Edgartown have a public library?
Yes. Edgartown Free Public Library, 26 West Tisbury Road, serves Edgartown’s 5,266 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Edgartown 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 Edgartown’s library?
It logged 15.5 visits and lent 12.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Edgartown’s civic life grade?
A+ Edgartown is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns on civic life, #14 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 Edgartown.
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.