Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Goshen’s library lends 1.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Goshen Free Public Library serves Goshen’s 947 residents. Last year it lent 1,263 print books and media and logged 1,376 visits.
The short version on Goshen’s library
Goshen Free Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Goshen Free Public Library records 1.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 1.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $21 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
Open only about 12 hours a week
Goshen Free Public Library keeps short hours: about 12 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Goshen Free Public Library serves 947 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
37% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 48%. What your card is worth ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 8% of the people Goshen Free Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Goshen’s civic life grade
Goshen 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Goshen Free Public Library serves 947 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
1,263 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 3,332 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
62 programs a year
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 Goshen last year.
Find it
Goshen Free Public Library, 42 Main Street, Goshen.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Goshen? 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 $1.20 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Goshen cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $20K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $24K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $20K budget.
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 78 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Goshen ranks 5th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Williamsburg | Meekins Public Library fine-free | 18.2 | 22 | A+ |
| Ashfield | Belding Memorial Library fine-free | 17.1 | 18 | A |
| Conway | Field Memorial Library fine-free | 7.1 | 11 | A− |
| Chesterfield | Chesterfield Public Library fine-free | 5.7 | 14 | A− |
| Goshen | Goshen Free Public Library | 1.3 | 12 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Cummington | Bryant Free Library fine-free | 0.8 | 9 | — under 1,000 residents |
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 Goshen
Does Goshen have a public library?
Yes. Goshen Free Public Library, 42 Main Street, serves Goshen’s 947 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 12 hours a week, averaged over the year.
How busy is Goshen’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 1.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Goshen’s civic life grade?
Goshen 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 Goshen.
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.