Photo: ToddC4176 · CC BY-SA 3.0Rowe’s library lends 19 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Rowe Town Library serves Rowe’s 421 residents. Last year it lent 8,152 print books and media and logged 2,250 visits.
The short version on Rowe’s library
Rowe out-borrows every town next door
At 19 loans per resident, Rowe leads the four towns here. The closest is Heath, at 13. Libraries next door ↓
Rowe is a town of borrowers
Rowe Town Library lends 19 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 97% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 49% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 38 items per child in Rowe last year. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Rowe Town Library serves 421 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 23 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 ↓
Rowe invests in its library
Rowe Town Library spends $181 per resident a year, about three times the typical $54 for a library its size. Almost all of it (95%) comes from local taxes. 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 Rowe’s civic life grade
Rowe 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 →
41 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 Rowe last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Rowe Town Library serves 421 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.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
8,152 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Rowe Town Library, 318 Zoar Road, Rowe.
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 Rowe? 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 $1.61 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rowe cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $76K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $123K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $76K 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 357 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Rowe borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rowe | Rowe Town Library fine-free | 19.4 | 23 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Heath | Heath Free Public Library fine-free | 12.8 | 16 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Florida | Florida Public Library fine-free | 2.5 | 28 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Charlemont | Tyler Memorial Library fine-free | 1.5 | 12 | A+ |
| Monroe | Monroe Public Library | — | — | — 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 Rowe
Does Rowe have a public library?
Yes. Rowe Town Library, 318 Zoar Road, serves Rowe’s 421 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 23 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rowe Town 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 Rowe’s library?
It logged 5.3 visits and lent 19.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Rowe’s civic life grade?
Rowe 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 Rowe.
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.