North Adams’ library runs 71 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
North Adams Community Memorial Library serves 4,196 people in and around North Adams. Last year it lent 8,188 books, movies and e-books and logged 4,358 visits.
North Adams’s library, in brief
North Adams Community Memorial Library is used less than most libraries its size
North Adams Community Memorial Library records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $17 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 14% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 42% 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; North Adams Community Memorial Library serves 4,196 people in and around North Adams, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind North Adams’ civic life grade
North Adams 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
North Adams Community Memorial Library serves 4,196 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole North Adams Community Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
8,188 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,903 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
299 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
North Adams Community Memorial Library, 4695 Knowles Rd., North Adams.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every North Adams Community Memorial Library branch.
New in North Adams? 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 $1.81 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average North Adams cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $71K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $129K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $71K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 570 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. North Adams Community Memorial Library serves 4,196 people in and around North Adams, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just North Adams.
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 North Adams
Does North Adams have a public library?
Yes. North Adams Community Memorial Library, 4695 Knowles Rd., serves 4,196 people in and around North Adams (the survey’s count) and is open about 29 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is North Adams Community Memorial Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is North Adams’ library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 2.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is North Adams’ civic life grade?
North Adams 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 North Adams.
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.