Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Burrillville’s library runs 40 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Jesse M. Smith Memorial Library serves Burrillville’s 12,330 residents. Last year it lent 83K books, movies and e-books and logged 56K visits.
Burrillville’s library, in brief
Burrillville out-borrows every town next door
At 6.7 loans per resident, Burrillville leads the six towns here. The closest is Glocester, at 5.5. Libraries next door ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Jesse M. Smith Memorial Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Three of the five libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Programs draw a crowd
17,000 people came to the library’s 499 programs last year: 1.3 per resident, against a typical 0.4, more than at 94% of similar-size libraries. 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 Burrillville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Burrillville is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #26 of 38 in Rhode Island. Burrillville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Burrillville’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($90K–$150K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
56 community nonprofits are registered in Burrillville
3.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.4%
6.4% of Burrillville’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.4% in the typical Rhode Island town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Burrillville’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Burrillville last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Jesse M. Smith Memorial Library serves 12,330 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 29 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
83K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 67K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
16,898 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
2 places to borrow in Burrillville
Jesse M. Smith Memorial Library, 100 Tinkham Lane, Burrillville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Burrillville? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Burrillville
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.38 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Burrillville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M 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 4,930 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Burrillville borrows the most per resident of the 6 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burrillville | Jesse M. Smith Memorial Library | 6.7 | 55 | C |
| Glocester | Harmony Library | 5.5 | 37 | B+ |
| Thompson | Thompson Public Library fine-free | 4.9 | 49 | C+ |
| North Smithfield | North Smithfield Public Library fine-free | 4.5 | 47 | C |
| Douglas | Simon Fairfield Public Library fine-free | 3.3 | 35 | C+ |
| Pascoag | Pascoag Free Public Library | 1.2 | 26 | — graded as part of its town |
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 Burrillville
Does Burrillville have a public library?
Yes. Jesse M. Smith Memorial Library, 100 Tinkham Lane, serves Burrillville’s 12,330 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Jesse M. Smith 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 Burrillville’s library?
It logged 4.5 visits and lent 6.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Burrillville’s civic life grade?
C Burrillville is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on civic life, #26 of 38 in Rhode Island. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Burrillville.
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.