Photo: ToddC4176 · CC BY-SA 3.0Heath’s library lends 13 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Heath Free Public Library serves Heath’s 721 residents. Last year it lent 9,209 print books and media and logged 2,860 visits.
Heath’s library, in brief
Open only about 16 hours a week
Heath Free Public Library keeps short hours: about 16 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Heath Free Public Library serves 721 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 ↓
Heath is a town of borrowers
Heath Free Public Library lends 13 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 92% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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 Heath’s civic life grade
Heath 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 →
Books and media off the shelf
9,209 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 0.8 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Heath Free Public Library serves 721 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
48 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 Heath last year.
Find it
Heath Free Public Library, 18 Jacobs Rd., Heath.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting.
New in Heath? 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 $2.33 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Heath cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $63K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $146K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $63K 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 392 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Heath ranks 2nd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rowe | Rowe Town Library fine-free | 19.4 | 23 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Heath | Heath Free Public Library fine-free | 12.8 | 16 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Colrain | Griswold Memorial Library fine-free | 10.6 | 30 | B+ |
| Charlemont | Tyler Memorial Library fine-free | 1.5 | 12 | A+ |
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 Heath
Does Heath have a public library?
Yes. Heath Free Public Library, 18 Jacobs Rd., serves Heath’s 721 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 16 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Heath Free Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Heath’s library?
It logged 4.0 visits and lent 12.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Heath’s civic life grade?
Heath 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 Heath.
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.