Photo: Beyond My Ken · CC BY-SA 4.0Cambridge’s library logs 8.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Cambridge Public Library serves Cambridge’s 118,488 residents from 7 locations. Last year it lent 1.3M print books and media and logged 964K visits.
The short version on Cambridge’s library
Cambridge uses its library more than almost any town its size
Cambridge Public Library logs 8.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, and lends 11 print items per resident against a typical 3.2. On both counts it beats 97% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Five times the programs of a typical library its size
Cambridge Public Library ran 5,016 programs last year, about 96 a week. That’s 42 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9. People show up: 104,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 50% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 46 items per child in Cambridge last year. Kids & programs ↓
Cambridge ranks 8th in Massachusetts for kids’ borrowing
Out of 268 Massachusetts towns with a library of their own, Cambridge comes 8th for children’s items borrowed per child. How it compares ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Cambridge Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1982. Today’s library there has 104,000 square feet. The buildings ↓
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 Cambridge’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Cambridge is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns, #34 of 283 in Massachusetts. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #4. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank 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 →
796 community nonprofits are registered in Cambridge
6.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (110 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 51 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.1%
9.1% of Cambridge’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 Cambridge’s residents live; 2022.
About 47 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 Cambridge last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Cambridge Public Library serves 118,488 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 64 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1.3M print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 374K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.6 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
A National Register landmark since 1982
Cambridge Public Library, 449 Broadway, Cambridge.
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 Cambridge? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Cambridge Public Library
Cambridge Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Apr 13, 1982. It is significant for its architecture and social history at the state level. Its architecture is described as Richardsonian Romanesque. It was listed as part of Cambridge MRA.
The Cambridge Public Library (CPL) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a public library that consists of a unified city-wide system maintaining: a main branch, of notable aesthetic architectural value, plus a further six localized branches sited throughout the city. Having evolved from the Cambridge Athenaeum, the main library branch was built at its present site in 1888.
More about the building →Other libraries in Cambridge
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.47 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cambridge cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $15M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $22M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $15M 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 84,192 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Cambridge ranks 3rd of 6 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+ |
| Arlington | Robbins Library fine-free | 16.6 | 97 | A |
| Cambridge | Cambridge Public Library fine-free | 11.3 | — | A |
| Belmont | Belmont Public Library fine-free | 10.5 | 55 | A |
| Somerville | Somerville Public Library fine-free | 4.6 | — | B+ |
| Boston | Boston Public Library fine-free | 3.4 | — | C |
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. Cambridge Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- 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 Cambridge
Does Cambridge have a public library?
Yes. Cambridge Public Library, 449 Broadway, serves Cambridge’s 118,488 residents (the survey’s count).
Is Cambridge 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 Cambridge’s library?
It logged 8.1 visits and lent 11.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Cambridge’s civic life grade?
A Cambridge is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns on civic life, #34 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 Cambridge.
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.