Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 4.0Russell’s library logs 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Russell Public Library serves Russell’s 1,631 residents. Last year it lent 1,410 print books and media and logged 1,649 visits.
The short version on Russell’s library
Russell Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Russell Public Library records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. How it compares ↓
Every town next door borrows more
Russell’s library lends 0.9 items per resident. Each of the five neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Blandford at 8.6. Libraries next door ↓
A small-town library
Russell Public Library serves 1,631 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 ↓
Open only about 22 hours a week
Russell Public Library keeps short hours: about 22 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Westfield Athenaeum in Westfield, next door, is open about 57 hours a week. The building ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 17% of the people Russell Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
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 Russell’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Russell is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns. Russell is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($82K–$136K) 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 →
Russell has few registered community nonprofits
1.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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.
4.3%
4.3% of Russell’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 Russell’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Russell Public Library serves 1,631 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
1,410 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 8,788 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
27 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 Russell last year.
Find it
Russell Public Library, 162 Main St., Russell.
No late fees. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Russell? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Russell cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $78K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $24K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $78K 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 277 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Russell ranks 6th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blandford | Porter Memorial Library fine-free | 8.6 | 27 | C+ |
| Westfield | Westfield Athenaeum fine-free | 3.6 | 57 | C− |
| Huntington | Huntington Public Library fine-free | 2.1 | 23 | B |
| Granville | Granville Public Library | 1.7 | 18 | B− |
| Montgomery | Grace Hall Memorial Library fine-free | 1.4 | 20 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Russell | Russell Public Library fine-free | 0.9 | 22 | 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 Russell
Does Russell have a public library?
Yes. Russell Public Library, 162 Main St., serves Russell’s 1,631 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 22 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Russell Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Russell’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 0.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Russell’s civic life grade?
D− Russell is ahead of 2% 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 Russell.
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.