Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 4.0Royalston’s library logs 6.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Phinehas S. Newton Library serves Royalston’s 1,261 residents. Last year it lent 6,846 print books and media and logged 8,638 visits.
The short version on Royalston’s library
Open only about 17 hours a week
Phinehas S. Newton Library keeps short hours: about 17 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 ↓
A small-town library
Phinehas S. Newton Library serves 1,261 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 ↓
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 Royalston’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Royalston is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Royalston
4.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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.
6.2%
6.2% of Royalston’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 Royalston’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Phinehas S. Newton Library serves 1,261 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
6,846 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 15K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
127 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 Royalston last year.
Find it
Phinehas S. Newton Library, 19 on the Common, Royalston.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Royalston? 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 $1.27 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Royalston cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $106K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $134K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $106K 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 769 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Royalston ranks 2nd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athol | Athol Public Library fine-free | 6.4 | 46 | B− |
| Royalston | Phinehas S. Newton Library fine-free | 5.4 | 17 | B |
| Orange | Wheeler Memorial Library fine-free | 3.3 | 44 | C |
| Phillipston | Phillips Free Public Library fine-free | 2.4 | 11 | D |
| Winchendon | Beals Memorial Library | 2.2 | 37 | C |
| Templeton | Boynton Public Library fine-free | 1.4 | 28 | C− |
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 Royalston
Does Royalston have a public library?
Yes. Phinehas S. Newton Library, 19 on the Common, serves Royalston’s 1,261 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 17 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Phinehas S. Newton 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 Royalston’s library?
It logged 6.9 visits and lent 5.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Royalston’s civic life grade?
B Royalston is ahead of 61% 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 Royalston.
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.