Photo: Bestbudbrian · CC BY-SA 4.0Hancock’s library logs 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Taylor Memorial Library serves Hancock’s 746 residents. Last year it lent 837 print books and media and logged 577 visits.
What Hancock’s library is like
Taylor Memorial Library is used less than most libraries its size
Taylor Memorial Library records 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 1.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $25 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
Every town next door borrows more
Hancock’s library lends 1.1 items per resident. Each of the three neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Richmond at 8.9. Libraries next door ↓
Open only about 13 hours a week
Taylor Memorial Library keeps short hours: about 13 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Berkshire Athenaeum in Pittsfield, next door, is open about 61 hours a week. The building ↓
A small-town library
Taylor Memorial Library serves 746 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 ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 8% of the people Taylor Memorial 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 Hancock’s civic life grade
Hancock 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.
Taylor Memorial Library serves 746 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
837 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 5,285 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.
46 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Hancock last year.
Find it
Taylor Memorial Library, 155 Main Street, Hancock.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Hancock? 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 Hancock cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $19K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $16K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $19K 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 57 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Hancock ranks 4th of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richmond | Richmond Free Public Library fine-free | 8.9 | 30 | A+ |
| Pittsfield | Berkshire Athenaeum fine-free | 3.9 | 61 | B− |
| Lanesborough | Lanesborough Public Library fine-free | 1.7 | 24 | C+ |
| Hancock | Taylor Memorial Library | 1.1 | 13 | — under 1,000 residents |
| New Ashford | None of its own | — | — | — 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 Hancock
Does Hancock have a public library?
Yes. Taylor Memorial Library, 155 Main Street, serves Hancock’s 746 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 13 hours a week, averaged over the year.
How busy is Hancock’s library?
It logged 0.8 visits and lent 1.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Hancock’s civic life grade?
Hancock 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 Hancock.
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.