Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Gosnold’s library logs 28 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Cuttyhunk Public Library serves Gosnold’s 64 residents. Last year it lent 1,553 print books and media and logged 1,810 visits.
What Gosnold’s library is like
More library cards than residents
282 cards for 64 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Gosnold uses its library more than almost any town its size
Cuttyhunk Public Library logs 28 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 24 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 98% 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 59% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Cuttyhunk Public Library serves 64 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 ↓
Gosnold invests in its library
Cuttyhunk Public Library spends $223 per resident a year, about four times the typical $54 for a library its size. 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 Gosnold’s civic life grade
Gosnold 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 →
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Cuttyhunk Public Library serves 64 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1,553 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 10K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
8 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.
Find it
Cuttyhunk Public Library, 19 Tower Hill Road, Cuttyhunk.
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 $1.66 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Gosnold cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $14K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $24K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $14K 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 282 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Gosnold ranks 3rd of 8 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woods Hole | Woods Hole Public Library fine-free | 49.0 | 31 | — under 1,000 residents |
| West Tisbury | West Tisbury Free Public Library fine-free | 34.6 | 51 | A+ |
| Gosnold | Cuttyhunk Public Library fine-free | 24.3 | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Chilmark | Chilmark Free Public Library fine-free | 17.2 | 29 | B+ |
| Aquinnah | Aquinnah Public Library fine-free | 14.6 | 17 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Tisbury | Vineyard Haven Public Library fine-free | 14.3 | 44 | A+ |
| Falmouth | Falmouth Public Library fine-free | 11.5 | 96 | A |
| Dartmouth | Dartmouth Public Libraries | 6.4 | 97 | B− |
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. Gosnold’s 1,810 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 Gosnold
Does Gosnold have a public library?
Yes. Cuttyhunk Public Library, 19 Tower Hill Road, serves Gosnold’s 64 residents (the survey’s count).
Is Cuttyhunk Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Gosnold’s library?
It logged 28.3 visits and lent 24.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Gosnold’s civic life grade?
Gosnold 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 Gosnold.
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.