Photo: Visitor7 · CC BY-SA 3.0Adams’ library runs 208 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Adams Public Library serves Adams’s 1,073 residents. Last year it lent 2,826 print books and media and logged 2,740 visits.
The short version on Adams’s library
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
38% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 54%. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Adams Public Library serves 1,073 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 24 hours a week. 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 ↓
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 Adams’ civic life grade
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 →
About 2 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Adams Public Library serves 1,073 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
2,826 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 3,977 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
Find it
Adams Public Library, 190 Main St., Adams.
No late fees. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in 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 $1.12 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Adams cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $52K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $58K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $52K 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 237 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’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 Adams
Does Adams have a public library?
Yes. Adams Public Library, 190 Main St., serves Adams’ 1,073 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 24 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Adams Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Adams’ library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 2.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Adams’ civic life grade?
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 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.