Photo: T.S. Custadio aka ToddC4176 at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Marshfield’s library logs 6.7 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Ventress Memorial Library serves Marshfield’s 25,713 residents. Last year it lent 162K print books and media and logged 172K visits.
What Marshfield’s library is like
People come to Ventress Memorial Library a lot
Ventress Memorial Library logs 6.7 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 94% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 6.3 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
51% of the 699 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 219 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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 Marshfield’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Marshfield is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns, #74 of 283 in Massachusetts. 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 →
124 community nonprofits are registered in Marshfield
4.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.2%
8.2% of Marshfield’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 Marshfield’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 53 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Ventress Memorial Library serves 25,713 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
162K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 64K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.5 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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 Marshfield last year.
Find it
Ventress Memorial Library, 15 Library Plaza, Marshfield.
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 Marshfield? 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 $2.57 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Marshfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $972K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $972K 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 8,675 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Marshfield ranks 4th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norwell | Norwell Public Library | 12.6 | 50 | A |
| Duxbury | Duxbury Free Library fine-free | 11.5 | 52 | A− |
| Scituate | Scituate Town Library fine-free | 10.8 | 62 | A |
| Marshfield | Ventress Memorial Library fine-free | 6.3 | 59 | A− |
| Pembroke | Pembroke Public Library fine-free | 5.5 | 59 | A− |
| Marshfield Hills | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Ocean Bluff-Brant Rock | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| North Pembroke | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Green Harbor | 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. Ventress Memorial 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 Marshfield
Does Marshfield have a public library?
Yes. Ventress Memorial Library, 15 Library Plaza, serves Marshfield’s 25,713 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 59 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ventress Memorial 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 Marshfield’s library?
It logged 6.7 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 Marshfield’s civic life grade?
A− Marshfield is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns on civic life, #74 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 Marshfield.
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.