Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 4.0Hancock’s library runs 71 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Louise Adelia Read Memorial Library serves 2,503 people in and around Hancock. Last year it lent 7,395 books, movies and e-books and logged 6,390 visits.
What’s behind Hancock’s civic life grade
Hancock 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 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Louise Adelia Read Memorial Library serves 2,503 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Louise Adelia Read Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
7,395 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
992 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
178 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Louise Adelia Read Memorial Library, 104 Read Street, Hancock.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Louise Adelia Read Memorial Library branch.
New in Hancock? 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 $1.29 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hancock cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $102K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $132K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $102K 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 1,330 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hancock | Louise Adelia Read Memorial Library | — | 30 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Buckingham Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- System-wide. Louise Adelia Read Memorial Library serves 2,503 people in and around Hancock, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Hancock.
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 Hancock
Does Hancock have a public library?
Yes. Louise Adelia Read Memorial Library, 104 Read Street, serves 2,503 people in and around Hancock (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Louise Adelia Read 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 Hancock’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 3.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Hancock’s civic life grade?
Hancock 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 Hancock.
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.