Photo: Brian Zbriger · CC BY-SA 2.5Leverett’s library lends 17 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Leverett Library serves Leverett’s 1,860 residents. Last year it lent 32K print books and media and logged 11K visits.
The short version on Leverett’s library
Leverett is a town of borrowers
Leverett Library lends 17 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 96% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
A small-town library
Leverett Library serves 1,860 residents with about 2 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 ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 40% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 94% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 57 items per child in Leverett last year. Kids & programs ↓
Open only about 19 hours a week
Leverett Library keeps short hours: about 19 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Jones Library, Inc. in Amherst Town, next door, is open about 81 hours a week. The building ↓
A place to get online
Leverett Library logs about 33 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 3 public computers. That’s 6.5 sessions per resident a year. 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 Leverett’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Leverett is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks 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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in Leverett
7.5 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. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
20.8%
20.8% of Leverett’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 Leverett’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
32K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 16K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.9 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Leverett Library serves 1,860 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
302 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 Leverett last year.
Find it
Leverett Library, 75 Montague Road, Leverett.
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 Leverett? 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 $3.22 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Leverett cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $166K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $535K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $166K 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 1,109 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Leverett borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leverett | Leverett Library fine-free | 17.0 | 19 | A+ |
| Sunderland | Sunderland Public Library fine-free | 15.7 | 50 | A |
| Amherst Town | Jones Library, Inc. fine-free | 8.8 | 81 | 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 Leverett
Does Leverett have a public library?
Yes. Leverett Library, 75 Montague Road, serves Leverett’s 1,860 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 19 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Leverett 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 Leverett’s library?
It logged 5.8 visits and lent 17.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Leverett’s civic life grade?
A+ Leverett is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Leverett.
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.