Photo: Tom Walsh · CC BY-SA 3.0Sunderland’s library lends 16 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Sunderland Public Library serves Sunderland’s 3,647 residents. Last year it lent 57K print books and media and logged 35K visits.
The short version on Sunderland’s library
Sunderland ranks 3rd in Massachusetts for kids’ borrowing
Out of 268 Massachusetts towns with a library of their own, Sunderland comes 3rd for children’s items borrowed per child. It’s also #16 for borrowing and #23 for library use. How it compares ↓
Sunderland uses its library more than almost any town its size
Sunderland Public Library logs 9.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 16 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 93% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 37% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 65 items per child in Sunderland last year. Kids & programs ↓
A place to get online
Sunderland Public Library logs about 116 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 10 public computers. That’s 12 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.
What’s behind Sunderland’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Sunderland is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns, #52 of 283 in Massachusetts. Library visits hold the grade up; Sunderland’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
13 community nonprofits are registered in Sunderland
3.6 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. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
11.5%
11.5% of Sunderland’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 Sunderland’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
57K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 32K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.8 times 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 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Sunderland Public Library serves 3,647 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 23 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 3 kids’ programs a week
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 Sunderland last year.
Find it
Sunderland Public Library, 20 School St., Sunderland.
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 Sunderland? 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 $4.69 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sunderland cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $221K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $221K 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 2,791 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Sunderland ranks 2nd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leverett | Leverett Library fine-free | 17.0 | 19 | A+ |
| Sunderland | Sunderland Public Library fine-free | 15.7 | 50 | A |
| Montague | Montague Public Libraries fine-free | 9.9 | 75 | A− |
| Deerfield | Tilton Library fine-free | 7.4 | 29 | A− |
| South Deerfield | Tilton Library fine-free | 7.4 | 29 | — graded as part of its town |
| Whately | S. White Dickinson Memorial Library fine-free | 4.6 | 24 | A− |
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 Sunderland
Does Sunderland have a public library?
Yes. Sunderland Public Library, 20 School St., serves Sunderland’s 3,647 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sunderland 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 Sunderland’s library?
It logged 9.5 visits and lent 15.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Sunderland’s civic life grade?
A Sunderland is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns on civic life, #52 of 283 in Massachusetts. 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 Sunderland.
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.