Alfred and Magdalena Schmid Farmstead · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0John G Smith Memorial Library serves Dawson’s 145 residents
John G Smith Memorial Library serves Dawson’s 145 residents.
What’s behind Dawson’s civic life grade
Dawson 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 →
A year at John G Smith Memorial Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits and print loans. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Find it
John G Smith Memorial Library, 517 Ridge St., Dawson.
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 Dawson resident borrows (the library didn’t report its card count for 2024).
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 145 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: visits. John G Smith Memorial Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate is its own, so we leave it out and never rank it.
- Not reported for 2024: print loans. 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 Dawson
Does Dawson have a public library?
Yes. John G Smith Memorial Library, 517 Ridge St., serves Dawson’s 145 residents (the survey’s count).
How busy is Dawson’s library?
It lent 0.0 items per resident in 2024 (print). Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Dawson’s civic life grade?
Dawson 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 Dawson.
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.