Photo: Daderot · Public domainFramingham’s library logs 3.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Framingham Public Library serves Framingham’s 70,963 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 445K print books and media and logged 271K visits.
What stands out about Framingham’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Framingham’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Framingham is ahead of 29% of U.S. towns, #221 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 ($81K–$134K) 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 →
243 community nonprofits are registered in Framingham
3.4 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 (74 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 9 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.8%
4.8% of Framingham’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 Framingham’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Framingham Public Library serves 70,963 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 42 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
445K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 229K 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 9 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 Framingham last year.
2 places to borrow in Framingham
Framingham Public Library, 49 Lexington Street, Framingham.
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 Framingham? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Framingham
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.98 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Framingham cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.5M 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 25,555 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Framingham ranks 7th of 8 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sudbury | Goodnow Library fine-free | 18.2 | 64 | A+ |
| Sherborn | Sherborn Library fine-free | 16.7 | 48 | A+ |
| Wayland | Wayland Free Public Library fine-free | 13.2 | 62 | A− |
| Southborough | Southborough Public Library fine-free | 12.8 | 52 | B |
| Natick | Morse Institute Library fine-free | 12.6 | 64 | B |
| Ashland | Ashland Public Library fine-free | 7.5 | 54 | C |
| Framingham | Framingham Public Library fine-free | 6.3 | — | C |
| Marlborough | Marlborough Public Library fine-free | 3.2 | 57 | C− |
| Cochituate | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Framingham 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 Framingham
Does Framingham have a public library?
Yes. Framingham Public Library, 49 Lexington Street, serves Framingham’s 70,963 residents (the survey’s count).
Is Framingham 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 Framingham’s library?
It logged 3.8 visits and lent 6.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Framingham’s civic life grade?
C Framingham is ahead of 29% of U.S. towns on civic life, #221 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 Framingham.
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.