Mount Jewett’s library lends 0.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Mount Jewett Memorial Library serves 1,539 people in and around Mount Jewett. Last year it lent 1,718 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,825 visits.
What Mount Jewett’s library is like
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
51% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 41%. What your card is worth ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, Mount Jewett Memorial Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on six. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 18% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 54% 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; Mount Jewett Memorial Library serves 1,539 people in and around Mount Jewett, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Mount Jewett’s civic life grade
Mount Jewett 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 →
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Mount Jewett Memorial Library serves 1,539 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mount Jewett Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1,718 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
559 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
60 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
Mount Jewett Memorial Library, 7 E. Main St., Mount Jewett.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Mount Jewett Memorial Library branch.
New in Mount Jewett? The Handbook →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 Mount Jewett cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $52K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $30K 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 273 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Mount Jewett Memorial Library serves 1,539 people in and around Mount Jewett, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Mount Jewett.
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 Mount Jewett
Does Mount Jewett have a public library?
Yes. Mount Jewett Memorial Library, 7 E. Main St., serves 1,539 people in and around Mount Jewett (the survey’s count) and is open about 29 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mount Jewett Memorial Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Mount Jewett’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 1.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Mount Jewett’s civic life grade?
Mount Jewett 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 Mount Jewett.
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.