Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0Granville’s library runs 98 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Granville Public Library serves Granville’s 1,528 residents. Last year it lent 2,527 print books and media and logged 2,637 visits.
Granville’s library, in brief
Granville Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Granville Public Library records 1.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 1.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. How it compares ↓
Open only about 18 hours a week
Granville Public Library keeps short hours: about 18 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Westfield Athenaeum in Westfield, next door, is open about 57 hours a week. The building ↓
A small-town library
Granville Public Library serves 1,528 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 ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Granville Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. All six libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. 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 Granville’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Granville is ahead of 53% of U.S. towns. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
9 community nonprofits are registered in Granville
4.9 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.1%
9.1% of Granville’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 Granville’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Granville Public Library serves 1,528 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
2,527 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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 Granville last year.
Find it
Granville Public Library, 2 Granby Road, Granville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Granville? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Granville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $54K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $50K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $54K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 441 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Granville ranks 6th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blandford | Porter Memorial Library fine-free | 8.6 | 27 | C+ |
| Southwick | Southwick Public Library fine-free | 6.2 | 41 | B− |
| Westfield | Westfield Athenaeum fine-free | 3.6 | 57 | C− |
| Hartland | Hartland Public Library fine-free | 2.2 | 10 | C− |
| Tolland | Tolland Public Library fine-free | 1.9 | 10 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Granville | Granville Public Library | 1.7 | 18 | B− |
| Russell | Russell Public Library fine-free | 0.9 | 22 | 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 Granville
Does Granville have a public library?
Yes. Granville Public Library, 2 Granby Road, serves Granville’s 1,528 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 18 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Granville Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Granville’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 1.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Granville’s civic life grade?
B− Granville is ahead of 53% 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 Granville.
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.