Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0Monson Center’s library logs 1.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Monson Free Library & Reading Room serves 8,090 people in and around Monson Center. Last year it lent 29K print books and media and logged 13K visits.
What stands out about Monson Center’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Monson Center’s civic life grade
Monson Center 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Monson Free Library & Reading Room serves 8,090 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 21 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
29K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 32K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 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.
Find it
Monson Free Library & Reading Room, 2 High Street, Monson.
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 Monson Center? 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 $1.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Monson Center cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $461K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $488K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $461K 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 3,663 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Monson Center
Does Monson Center have a public library?
Yes. Monson Free Library & Reading Room, 2 High Street, serves 8,090 people in and around Monson Center (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Monson Free Library & Reading Room 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 Monson Center’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 3.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Monson Center’s civic life grade?
Monson Center 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 Monson Center.
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.