Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Ashland’s library runs 54 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Ashland Public Library serves Ashland’s 18,466 residents. Last year it lent 138K print books and media and logged 72K visits.
What Ashland’s library is like
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 62% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 25 items per child in Ashland last year. Kids & programs ↓
Programs draw a crowd
26,000 people came to the library’s 998 programs last year: 1.4 per resident, against a typical 0.4, more than at 95% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Programs lean toward adults
59% of the 998 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 359 were for children. 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 Ashland’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Ashland is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns, #205 of 283 in Massachusetts. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($96K–$159K) 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 →
69 community nonprofits are registered in Ashland
3.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (11 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.2%
5.2% of Ashland’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.9% in the typical Massachusetts 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 Ashland’s residents live; 2022.
About 7 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 Ashland last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Ashland Public Library serves 18,466 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 49 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
138K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 70K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Ashland Public Library, 66 Front St., Ashland.
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 Ashland? 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 $3.51 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ashland cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $624K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $624K 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 6,488 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Ashland ranks 4th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hopkinton | Hopkinton Public Library fine-free | 28.6 | 56 | B+ |
| Sherborn | Sherborn Library fine-free | 16.7 | 48 | A+ |
| Southborough | Southborough Public Library fine-free | 12.8 | 52 | B |
| Ashland | Ashland Public Library fine-free | 7.5 | 54 | C |
| Framingham | Framingham Public Library fine-free | 6.3 | — | C |
| Cordaville | None of its own | — | — | — 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. Massachusetts 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 Ashland
Does Ashland have a public library?
Yes. Ashland Public Library, 66 Front St., serves Ashland’s 18,466 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ashland Public 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 Ashland’s library?
It logged 3.9 visits and lent 7.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Ashland’s civic life grade?
C Ashland is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns on civic life, #205 of 283 in Massachusetts. 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 Ashland.
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.