Rev. Samuel Gay House · Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Hubbardston’s library logs 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Hubbardston Public Library serves Hubbardston’s 4,335 residents. Last year it lent 16K print books and media and logged 5,731 visits.
What Hubbardston’s library is like
Every town next door borrows more
Hubbardston’s library lends 3.8 items per resident. Each of the four neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Princeton at 7.8. Libraries next door ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Hubbardston Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1998. Today’s library there has 2,160 square feet. The building ↓
Open only about 22 hours a week
Hubbardston Public Library keeps short hours: about 22 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Levi Heywood Memorial Library in Gardner, next door, is open about 41 hours a week. The building ↓
Most programs are for young children
72% of the 133 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 48 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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.
What’s behind Hubbardston’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Hubbardston is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns, #187 of 283 in Massachusetts. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($93K–$154K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in Hubbardston
3.9 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.1%
9.1% of Hubbardston’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 Hubbardston’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1998
Hubbardston Public Library, 7 Main Street, Hubbardston.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Hubbardston? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Hubbardston Public Library
Hubbardston Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Aug 19, 1998. It is significant for its architecture, education and social history at the local level. Its architecture is described as Greek Revival and Second Empire and Italianate and Gothic and Queen Anne and Renaissance Revival and Colonial Revival and Beaux Arts and Italian Renaissance.
The Hubbardston Public Library is the public library of Hubbardston, Massachusetts. The library, located at 7 Main Street, serves the town by providing a wide variety of materials, services, and events. It offers Internet access and access to the CWMARS resource-sharing catalog.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Hubbardston Public Library serves 4,335 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
16K 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 1.4 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 kids’ programs 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 Hubbardston last year.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.67 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hubbardston cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $92K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $246K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $92K 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 1,111 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Hubbardston ranks 5th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Princeton | Princeton Public Library fine-free | 7.8 | 35 | A |
| Barre | Woods Memorial Library fine-free | 7.3 | 31 | A |
| Westminster | Forbush Memorial Library fine-free | 6.9 | 41 | C+ |
| Gardner | Levi Heywood Memorial Library fine-free | 5.6 | 41 | C+ |
| Hubbardston | Hubbardston Public Library fine-free | 3.8 | 22 | C+ |
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 Hubbardston
Does Hubbardston have a public library?
Yes. Hubbardston Public Library, 7 Main Street, serves Hubbardston’s 4,335 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 22 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hubbardston Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Hubbardston’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 3.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Hubbardston’s civic life grade?
C+ Hubbardston is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns on civic life, #187 of 283 in Massachusetts. 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 Hubbardston.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.