Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 4.0Montague’s library lends 9.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Montague Public Libraries serves Montague’s 8,463 residents from 3 locations. Last year it lent 84K print books and media and logged 27K visits.
What Montague’s library is like
Open about 75 hours a week
The main library is open about 75 hours a week, averaged over the year. The buildings ↓
Montague is a town of borrowers
Montague Public Libraries lends 9.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 91% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Three places to borrow in Montague
Montague Public Libraries runs three locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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 Montague’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Montague is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns, #75 of 283 in Massachusetts. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
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 →
41 community nonprofits are registered in Montague
4.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (13 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
14.0%
14.0% of Montague’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 Montague’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
84K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 47K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.8 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 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Montague Public Libraries serves 8,463 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 3 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 Montague last year.
3 places to borrow in Montague
Montague Public Libraries, 201 Avenue A, Turners Falls.
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 Montague? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Montague
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.40 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Montague cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $578K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $578K 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 4,066 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Montague ranks 5th of 9 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wendell | Wendell Free Library fine-free | 21.4 | 21 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Sunderland | Sunderland Public Library fine-free | 15.7 | 50 | A |
| Erving | Erving Public Library fine-free | 13.7 | 33 | B+ |
| Greenfield | Greenfield Public Library fine-free | 10.7 | 46 | A+ |
| Montague | Montague Public Libraries fine-free | 9.9 | 75 | A− |
| Turners Falls | Montague Public Libraries fine-free | 9.9 | 75 | — graded as part of its town |
| Millers Falls | Millers Falls Library fine-free | 9.9 | 10 | — graded as part of its town |
| Deerfield | Tilton Library fine-free | 7.4 | 29 | A− |
| Gill | Slate Memorial Library fine-free | 1.2 | 18 | D− |
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 Montague
Does Montague have a public library?
Yes. Montague Public Libraries, 201 Avenue A, serves Montague’s 8,463 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 75 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Montague Public Libraries 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 Montague’s library?
It logged 3.2 visits and lent 9.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Montague’s civic life grade?
A− Montague is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns on civic life, #75 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 Montague.
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.