Photo: Ian Howard · CC BY 2.5Boston’s library runs 22 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Boston Public Library serves Boston’s 650,706 residents from 25 locations. Last year it lent 2.2M print books and media and logged 1.4M visits.
The short version on Boston’s library
Nearly everyone in Boston has a card
628,526 cards for 650,706 people, or 97%. At the typical library serving 100,000+ people, it’s 41%. How it compares ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Boston Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973. Today’s library there has 970,000 square feet. The buildings ↓
25 places to borrow in Boston
Boston Public Library runs 25 locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Boston Public Library ran 14,337 programs last year, about 276 a week. That’s 22 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9. Kids & programs ↓
Boston invests in its library
Boston Public Library spends $88 per resident a year, about twice the typical $36 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
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 Boston’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Boston is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns, #205 of 283 in Massachusetts. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #145. Boston’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($73K–$122K) 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 →
3,444 community nonprofits are registered in Boston
5.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (616 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 223 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.9%
5.9% of Boston’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 Boston’s residents live; 2022.
About 102 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 Boston last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Boston Public Library serves 650,706 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 35 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
2.2M print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 6.8M books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
A National Register landmark since 1973
Boston Public Library, 700 Boylston Street, Boston.
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 Boston? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Boston Public Library
Boston Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 6, 1973, and named a National Historic Landmark on Feb 24, 1986. It is significant for its art, architecture and social history at the national level. Its architecture is described as Second Renaissance Revival.
The Central Library (also the Copley Square Library) is the main location of the Boston Public Library (BPL), occupying a full city block on Copley Square in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It consists of the McKim Building, designed by Charles Follen McKim, and the Johnson Building, designed by Philip Johnson.
More about the building →Other libraries in Boston
And 12 more in Boston.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Boston cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $57M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $37M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $57M 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 628,526 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Boston ranks 9th of 11 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Watertown | Watertown Free Public Library fine-free | 20.2 | 70 | C+ |
| Newton | Newton Free Library fine-free | 14.1 | 65 | A |
| Brookline | Brookline Public Library fine-free | 13.0 | — | A− |
| Cambridge | Cambridge Public Library fine-free | 11.3 | — | A |
| Milton | Milton Public Library fine-free | 8.6 | 56 | B |
| Dedham | Dedham Public Library fine-free | 6.2 | 99 | B |
| Quincy | Thomas Crane Public Library fine-free | 6.1 | — | C+ |
| Winthrop Town | Winthrop Public Library & Museum | 3.7 | 48 | C |
| Boston | Boston Public Library fine-free | 3.4 | — | C |
| Chelsea | Chelsea Public Library fine-free | 0.7 | 57 | D− |
| Revere | Revere Public Library fine-free | 0.4 | 64 | D− |
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 Boston
Does Boston have a public library?
Yes. Boston Public Library, 700 Boylston Street, serves Boston’s 650,706 residents (the survey’s count).
Is Boston 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 Boston’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 3.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Boston’s civic life grade?
C Boston 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 Boston.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.