Adams, Frederic C., Public Library · Public domainKingston’s library lends 9.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Kingston Public Library serves Kingston’s 13,829 residents. Last year it lent 127K print books and media and logged 56K visits.
What Kingston’s library is like
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 57% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 26 items per child in Kingston last year. Kids & programs ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Frederic C. Adams Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2001. Today’s library there has 12,898 square feet. The building ↓
Kingston is a town of borrowers
Kingston Public Library lends 9.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 88% of similar-size libraries. Each item on the shelves went out about 2.2 times last year. What people borrow ↓
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 Kingston’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Kingston is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns, #112 of 283 in Massachusetts. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks 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 →
58 community nonprofits are registered in Kingston
4.1 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 (5 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.
8.6%
8.6% of Kingston’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 Kingston’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 Kingston last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Kingston Public Library serves 13,829 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 51 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
127K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 57K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.2 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
A National Register landmark since 2001
Kingston Public Library, 6 Green Street, Kingston.
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 Kingston? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Frederic C. Adams Public Library
Adams, Frederic C., Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jun 6, 2001. It is significant for its architecture, education and town planning at the local level. Its architecture is described as Colonial Revival.
The Frederic C. Adams Public Library is a historic library building at 33 Summer Street in Kingston, Massachusetts. Designed by Joseph Everett Chandler (1864–1945), a major proponent of the Colonial Revival style, the library was built in 1898 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.27 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Kingston cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $825K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $825K 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 4,190 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Kingston ranks 2nd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duxbury | Duxbury Free Library fine-free | 11.5 | 52 | A− |
| Kingston | Kingston Public Library fine-free | 9.2 | 48 | B+ |
| Plympton | Plympton Public Library fine-free | 5.6 | 27 | C+ |
| Pembroke | Pembroke Public Library fine-free | 5.5 | 59 | A− |
| Plymouth | Plymouth Public Library fine-free | 4.2 | 87 | B− |
| North Plymouth | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| South Duxbury | 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 Kingston
Does Kingston have a public library?
Yes. Kingston Public Library, 6 Green Street, serves Kingston’s 13,829 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Kingston 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 Kingston’s library?
It logged 4.1 visits and lent 9.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Kingston’s civic life grade?
B+ Kingston is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns on civic life, #112 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 Kingston.
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.