Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Lenox’s library logs 12 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Lenox Library serves Lenox’s 5,064 residents. Last year it lent 65K print books and media and logged 63K visits.
The short version on Lenox’s library
Lenox uses its library more than almost any town its size
Lenox Library logs 12 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 13 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 96% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
More library cards than residents
5,086 cards for 5,064 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Lenox Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973. Today’s library there has 20,000 square feet. The building ↓
Top 10% in Massachusetts for kids’ borrowing
Lenox ranks #11 of 268 Massachusetts towns with a library of their own for children’s items borrowed per child. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 45% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 94% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 43 items per child in Lenox last year. 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 Lenox’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Lenox is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns, #33 of 283 in Massachusetts. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
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 →
46 community nonprofits are registered in Lenox
9.0 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.0%
8.0% of Lenox’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 Lenox’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Lenox Library serves 5,064 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
65K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 66K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 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 Lenox last year.
A National Register landmark since 1973
Lenox Library, 18 Main St., Lenox.
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 Lenox? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Lenox Library
Lenox Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Apr 3, 1973. It is significant for its architecture at the state level.
The Lenox Library is a municipal public library in Lenox, Massachusetts. It was managed by the non-profit Lenox Library Association, founded in 1856, until it became a department of the Town of Lenox in 2018. The town-owned historic library building is located at 18 Main Street, in the former Berkshire County Courthouse that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.62 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lenox cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $634K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $634K 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 5,086 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Lenox ranks 2nd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stockbridge | Stockbridge Library Association fine-free | 13.7 | 42 | A+ |
| Lenox | Lenox Library fine-free | 12.8 | 40 | A |
| Richmond | Richmond Free Public Library fine-free | 8.9 | 30 | A+ |
| Lee | Lee Library Association fine-free | 6.5 | 43 | B |
| Lenox Dale | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Washington | 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 Lenox
Does Lenox have a public library?
Yes. Lenox Library, 18 Main St., serves Lenox’s 5,064 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lenox 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 Lenox’s library?
It logged 12.4 visits and lent 12.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Lenox’s civic life grade?
A Lenox is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns on civic life, #33 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 Lenox.
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.