Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Harwich Port’s library logs 17 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Harwich Port Library Assoc. serves 137 people in and around Harwich Port. Last year it lent 2,467 print books and media and logged 2,309 visits.
What Harwich Port’s library is like
More library cards than residents
918 cards for 137 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 ↓
Harwich Port uses its library more than almost any town its size
Harwich Port Library Assoc. logs 17 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 18 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 96% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Open only about 13 hours a week
Harwich Port Library Assoc. keeps short hours: about 13 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Brooks Free Library in Harwich, next door, is open about 46 hours a week. The building ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
43% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 32%. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Harwich Port Library Assoc. serves 137 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 ↓
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 Harwich Port’s civic life grade
Harwich Port 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 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Harwich Port Library Assoc. serves 137 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Books and media off the shelf
2,467 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 14K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
18 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
Harwich Port Library Assoc., 49 Lower Bank St., Harwich Port.
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 Harwich Port cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $50K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $43K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $50K 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 918 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Harwich Port borrows the most per resident of the 5 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harwich Port | Harwich Port Library Assoc. fine-free | 18.0 | 13 | — graded as part of its town |
| Harwich | Brooks Free Library fine-free | 14.6 | 46 | A− |
| Harwich Center | Brooks Free Library fine-free | 14.6 | 46 | — graded as part of its town |
| Chatham | Eldredge Public Library fine-free | 13.3 | 42 | A |
| Northwest Harwich | Chase Library Assoc., Inc. fine-free | 7.8 | 10 | — graded as part of its town |
| East Harwich | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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. Harwich Port’s 2,309 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 Harwich Port
Does Harwich Port have a public library?
Yes. Harwich Port Library Assoc., 49 Lower Bank St., serves 137 people in and around Harwich Port (the survey’s count) and is open about 13 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Harwich Port Library Assoc. fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Harwich Port’s library?
It logged 16.9 visits and lent 18.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Harwich Port’s civic life grade?
Harwich Port 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 Harwich Port.
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.