Photo: ToddC4176 · CC BY-SA 3.0Monterey’s library lends 14 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Monterey Library serves Monterey’s 1,085 residents. Last year it lent 15K print books and media and logged 11K visits.
What Monterey’s library is like
Monterey uses its library more than almost any town its size
Monterey Library logs 10 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 14 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 90% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Monterey Library serves 1,085 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 31 hours a week. 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 ↓
Monterey out-borrows every town next door
At 14 loans per resident, Monterey leads the six towns here. The closest is Great Barrington, at 13. Libraries next door ↓
Nearly everyone in Monterey has a card
930 cards for 1,085 people, or 86%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
A place to get online
Monterey Library logs about 12 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 3 public computers. That’s 4 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 Monterey’s civic life grade
On library visits and community nonprofits, Monterey is among the top 1% of U.S. towns. Monterey is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs put Monterey near the top nationally; Monterey’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
18 community nonprofits are registered in Monterey
19.2 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
Books and media off the shelf
15K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 14K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time 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.
Monterey Library serves 1,085 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
102 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 Monterey last year.
Find it
Monterey Library, 452 Main Rd., Monterey.
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 Monterey? 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 $2.02 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Monterey cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $136K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $276K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $136K 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 930 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Monterey borrows the most per resident of the 6 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monterey | Monterey Library fine-free | 13.8 | 31 | A+ |
| Great Barrington | Mason Library fine-free | 12.5 | 51 | A |
| New Marlborough | New Marlborough Town Library fine-free | 11.8 | 37 | A+ |
| Otis | Otis Library and Museum fine-free | 5.7 | 27 | B+ |
| Tyringham | Tyringham Free Public Library fine-free | 2.3 | 10 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Sandisfield | Sandisfield Public Library fine-free | 0.8 | 15 | — 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 Monterey
Does Monterey have a public library?
Yes. Monterey Library, 452 Main Rd., serves Monterey’s 1,085 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 31 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Monterey 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 Monterey’s library?
It logged 10.0 visits and lent 13.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Monterey’s civic life grade?
A+ Monterey is among the top 1% 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 Monterey.
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.