Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0Phillipston’s library runs 0.6 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Phillips Free Public Library serves Phillipston’s 1,720 residents. Last year it lent 4,068 print books and media and drew 12 people to its programs.
Phillipston’s library, in brief
Open only about 11 hours a week
Phillips Free Public Library keeps short hours: about 11 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Athol Public Library in Athol, next door, is open about 46 hours a week. The building ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Phillips Free Public Library offered 1 programs last year, 0.6 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Phillips Free Public Library serves 1,720 residents with about one 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 ↓
Runs on less money than most
Phillips Free Public Library spends $15 per resident, less than 95% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). What your card is worth ↓
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 Phillipston’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Phillipston is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Phillips Free Public Library spends $15 per resident, against a typical $54 for libraries its size, and its 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($71K–$118K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
Phillipston has few registered community nonprofits
0.3 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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.0%
8.0% of Phillipston’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 Phillipston’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 5 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Phillips Free Public Library serves 1,720 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Visits aren’t shown: this year’s report counted only 475 visits against 4,068 loans, so we leave the count out.
Not reported for 2024: library cards. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
4,068 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 7,374 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
1 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Phillipston last year.
Find it
Phillips Free Public Library, 25 Templeton Road, Phillipston.
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 Phillipston? 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 $2.28 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Phillipston resident borrows (the library didn’t report its card count for 2024).
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $26K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $60K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $26K 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 resident’s month = the library’s yearly loans and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ the 1,720 people it serves ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Phillipston ranks 4th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
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.
- Not reported for 2024: library cards. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- Digital loans not reported. Massachusetts libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- Visits left out. This year’s visit count is far below what the library lends, so we leave it out.
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 Phillipston
Does Phillipston have a public library?
Yes. Phillips Free Public Library, 25 Templeton Road, serves Phillipston’s 1,720 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 11 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Phillips Free Public 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 Phillipston’s library?
It lent 2.4 items per resident in 2024 (print) and ran 1 programs that drew 12 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Phillipston’s civic life grade?
D Phillipston is ahead of 10% 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 Phillipston.
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.