Photo: Andrew Filer · CC BY-SA 2.0Ashley’s library logs 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Ashley Public Library serves Ashley’s 613 residents. Last year it lent 2,926 books, movies and e-books and logged 596 visits.
What Ashley’s library is like
Open only about 7 hours a week
Ashley Public Library keeps short hours: about 7 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Ashley Public Library offered 0 programs last year, 0 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Ashley Public Library serves 613 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 ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
Ashley Public Library records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, below 92% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 4.8 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Ashley Public Library spends $7 per resident, less than 98% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). 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 Ashley’s civic life grade
Ashley 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 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Ashley Public Library serves 613 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.
Not reported for 2024: library cards. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
2,926 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 10K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Find it
Ashley Public Library, 113 First Avenue NW, Ashley.
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 $11.33 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ashley resident borrows (the library didn’t report its card count for 2024).
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $4,327.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $49K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4,327 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 resident’s month = the library’s yearly loans and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ the 613 people it serves ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: library cards. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
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 Ashley
Does Ashley have a public library?
Yes. Ashley Public Library, 113 First Avenue NW, serves Ashley’s 613 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 7 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ashley Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Ashley’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 4.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Ashley’s civic life grade?
Ashley 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 Ashley.
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.