Glocester Town Pound · Photo: Swampyank at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Glocester’s library lends 5.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Harmony Library serves Glocester’s 5,485 residents. Last year it lent 30K print books and media and logged 16K visits.
What stands out about Glocester’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Glocester’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Glocester is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns, #7 of 38 in Rhode Island. Glocester is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
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 →
44 community nonprofits are registered in Glocester
4.4 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.2%
9.2% of Glocester’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 Glocester’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Harmony Library serves 5,485 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
30K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 42K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Glocester last year.
2 places to borrow in Glocester
Harmony Library, 195 Putnam Pike, Glocester.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Glocester? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Glocester
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.64 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Glocester cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $287K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $470K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $287K 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 1,155 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Glocester ranks 5th of 9 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smithfield | Greenville Public Library | 10.6 | 59 | C |
| Greenville | Greenville Public Library | 10.6 | 59 | — graded as part of its town |
| Scituate | North Scituate Public Library fine-free | 10.0 | 49 | B− |
| Burrillville | Jesse M. Smith Memorial Library | 6.7 | 55 | C |
| Glocester | Harmony Library | 5.5 | 37 | B+ |
| Harmony | Harmony Library | 5.5 | 37 | — graded as part of its town |
| Foster | Foster Public Library | 4.5 | 39 | C+ |
| Killingly | Killingly Public Library fine-free | 4.4 | 45 | B− |
| 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.
- 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 Glocester
Does Glocester have a public library?
Yes. Harmony Library, 195 Putnam Pike, serves Glocester’s 5,485 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Harmony 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 Glocester’s library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 5.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Glocester’s civic life grade?
B+ Glocester is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns on civic life, #7 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 Glocester.
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.