Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 4.0Attleboro’s library runs 10 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Attleboro Public Library serves Attleboro’s 46,601 residents. Last year it lent 152K print books and media and logged 98K visits.
What stands out about Attleboro’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Attleboro’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Attleboro is ahead of 18% of U.S. towns, #255 of 283 in Massachusetts. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Attleboro’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($74K–$124K) 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 →
157 community nonprofits are registered in Attleboro
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 (30 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.
5.1%
5.1% of Attleboro’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 Attleboro’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Attleboro Public Library serves 46,601 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 55 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
152K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 80K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.9 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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 Attleboro last year.
Find it
Attleboro Public Library, 74 North Main Street, Attleboro.
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 Attleboro? 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 $1.33 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Attleboro cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.8M 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 17,046 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Attleboro ranks 3rd of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seekonk | Seekonk Public Library | 10.9 | 57 | B− |
| Cumberland | Cumberland Public Library fine-free | 8.2 | 57 | C |
| Attleboro | Attleboro Public Library fine-free | 3.3 | 53 | C− |
| Rehoboth | Blanding Free Public Library | 2.9 | 50 | C− |
| North Attleborough Town | Richards Memorial Library | 2.4 | 53 | D |
| Pawtucket | Pawtucket Public Library fine-free | 1.9 | 63 | D |
| Central Falls | Adams Public Library | 0.2 | 34 | D− |
| Valley Falls | 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 Attleboro
Does Attleboro have a public library?
Yes. Attleboro Public Library, 74 North Main Street, serves Attleboro’s 46,601 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Attleboro 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 Attleboro’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 3.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Attleboro’s civic life grade?
C− Attleboro is ahead of 18% of U.S. towns on civic life, #255 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 Attleboro.
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.