Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Erving’s library lends 14 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Erving Public Library serves Erving’s 1,667 residents. Last year it lent 23K print books and media and logged 14K visits.
Erving’s library, in brief
A small-town library
Erving Public Library serves 1,667 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 33 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Erving is a town of borrowers
Erving Public Library lends 14 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 93% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 44% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 36 items per child in Erving last year. Kids & programs ↓
Erving invests in its library
Erving Public Library spends $163 per resident a year, about three times the typical $54 for a library its size. Almost all of it (87%) 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Erving’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Erving is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns. Library visits hold the grade up; Erving’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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Erving
3.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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.
8.5%
8.5% of Erving’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 Erving’s residents live; 2022.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Erving last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Erving Public Library serves 1,667 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
23K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 15K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Erving Public Library, 2 Care Drive, Erving.
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 Erving? 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 $1.34 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Erving cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $271K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $362K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $271K 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 1,017 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Erving ranks 3rd of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wendell | Wendell Free Library fine-free | 21.4 | 21 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Northfield | Dickinson Memorial Library fine-free | 15.4 | 30 | A |
| Erving | Erving Public Library fine-free | 13.7 | 33 | B+ |
| Montague | Montague Public Libraries fine-free | 9.9 | 75 | A− |
| Millers Falls | Millers Falls Library fine-free | 9.9 | 10 | — graded as part of its town |
| Orange | Wheeler Memorial Library fine-free | 3.3 | 44 | C |
| Gill | Slate Memorial Library fine-free | 1.2 | 18 | D− |
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 Erving
Does Erving have a public library?
Yes. Erving Public Library, 2 Care Drive, serves Erving’s 1,667 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Erving 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 Erving’s library?
It logged 8.2 visits and lent 13.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Erving’s civic life grade?
B+ Erving is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Erving.
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.