Photo: Terageorge~commonswiki · CC BY-SA 4.0Holden’s library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Gale Free Library serves Holden’s 19,880 residents. Last year it lent 209K print books and media and logged 127K visits.
Holden’s library, in brief
Holden uses its library more than almost any town its size
Gale Free Library logs 6.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 11 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 88% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 54% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 23 items per child in Holden last year. Kids & programs ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Gale Free Library charges late fines on some overdue items. All five libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Holden out-borrows every town next door
At 10.5 loans per resident, Holden leads the six towns here. The closest is Sterling, at 10.2. Libraries next door ↓
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 Holden’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Holden is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns, #148 of 283 in Massachusetts. Library visits hold the grade up; Holden’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
56 community nonprofits are registered in Holden
2.8 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 (12 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.3%
7.3% of Holden’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 Holden’s residents live; 2022.
About 5 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 Holden last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Gale Free Library serves 19,880 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 78 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
209K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 60K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.5 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Gale Free Library, 23 Highland St., Holden.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Holden? 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 $3.01 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Holden cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.1M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 10,351 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Holden borrows the most per resident of the 6 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holden | Gale Free Library | 10.5 | 52 | B− |
| Sterling | Conant Free Public Library fine-free | 10.2 | 42 | B |
| West Boylston | Beaman Memorial Public Library fine-free | 8.9 | 42 | B |
| Princeton | Princeton Public Library fine-free | 7.8 | 35 | A |
| Paxton | Richards Memorial Library fine-free | 6.1 | 34 | C |
| Rutland | Rutland Free Public Library fine-free | 4.5 | 36 | B |
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. Gale Free 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 Holden
Does Holden have a public library?
Yes. Gale Free Library, 23 Highland St., serves Holden’s 19,880 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Gale Free Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Holden’s library?
It logged 6.4 visits and lent 10.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Holden’s civic life grade?
B− Holden is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns on civic life, #148 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 Holden.
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.