Photo: Jessamyn · Public domainHancock’s library lends 1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Hancock Free Public serves Hancock’s 485 residents. Last year it lent 489 print books and media and logged 522 visits.
What Hancock’s library is like
Hancock Free Public is used less than most libraries its size
Hancock Free Public records 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. How it compares ↓
Open only about 14 hours a week
Hancock Free Public keeps short hours: about 14 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Hancock Free Public serves 485 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 Hancock’s civic life grade
Hancock 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 1 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Hancock Free Public serves 485 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Hancock Free Public
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
489 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Hancock’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 3,981 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
12 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Hancock Free Public, 1027 Route 100, Hancock.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Hancock? 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 Hancock cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $20K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $10K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $20K 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 365 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Hancock Free Public counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- Digital loans not reported. Vermont libraries often don’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 Hancock
Does Hancock have a public library?
Yes. Hancock Free Public, 1027 Route 100, serves Hancock’s 485 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 14 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hancock Free Public 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 Hancock’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 1.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Hancock’s civic life grade?
Hancock 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 Hancock.
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.