Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0Ashaway’s library lends 5.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Ashaway Free Library serves 3,778 people in and around Ashaway. Last year it lent 25K books, movies and e-books and logged 12K visits.
Ashaway’s library, in brief
Federal money pays a real share
5% of the budget comes from federal grants, and 59% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Ashaway Free Library serves more than Ashaway
The library’s service area covers 3,778 people in and around Ashaway, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
65% of the 75 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 41 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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.
What’s behind Ashaway’s civic life grade
Ashaway 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 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Ashaway Free Library serves 3,778 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
25K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 18K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
4,925 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
75 programs a year
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.
Find it
Ashaway Free Library, 15 Knight Street, Hopkinton.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Ashaway? 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 $3.09 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ashaway cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $136K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $419K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $136K 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 779 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Ashaway ranks 3rd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westerly | Westerly Public Library | 10.3 | 57 | B+ |
| North Stonington | Wheeler Library fine-free | 8.4 | 35 | B+ |
| Ashaway | Ashaway Free Library fine-free | 6.5 | 35 | — graded as part of its town |
| Hopkinton | Langworthy Public Library fine-free | 6.2 | 33 | B |
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Ashaway
Does Ashaway have a public library?
Yes. Ashaway Free Library, 15 Knight Street, serves 3,778 people in and around Ashaway (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ashaway Free 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 Ashaway’s library?
It logged 3.2 visits and lent 6.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Ashaway’s civic life grade?
Ashaway 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 Ashaway.
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.