Photo: T.S. Custadio aka ToddC4176 at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Mashpee’s library lends 13 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Mashpee Public Library serves Mashpee’s 15,468 residents. Last year it lent 198K print books and media and logged 90K visits.
What Mashpee’s library is like
Mashpee is a town of borrowers
Mashpee Public Library lends 13 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 95% of similar-size libraries. Each item on the shelves went out about 2.7 times last year. What people borrow ↓
Mashpee out-borrows every town next door
At 12.8 loans per resident, Mashpee leads the four towns here. The closest is Barnstable Town, at 11.9. Libraries next door ↓
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Mashpee Public Library ran 908 programs last year, about 17 a week. That’s 59 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 36% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 87% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 31 items per child in Mashpee last year. Kids & programs ↓
77% of Mashpee carry a library card
11,869 cards for 15,468 people, or 77%. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
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 Mashpee’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Mashpee is ahead of 77% of U.S. towns, #85 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 →
59 community nonprofits are registered in Mashpee
3.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (6 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.
9.3%
9.3% of Mashpee’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 Mashpee’s residents live; 2022.
About 11 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 Mashpee 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.
Mashpee Public Library serves 15,468 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 89 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
198K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 72K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.7 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Mashpee Public Library, 64 Steeple St., Mashpee.
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 Mashpee? 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 $3.36 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mashpee cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $933K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $933K 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 11,869 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Mashpee borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mashpee | Mashpee Public Library fine-free | 12.8 | 43 | A− |
| Barnstable Town | Osterville Village Library | 11.9 | 49 | B+ |
| Falmouth | Falmouth Public Library fine-free | 11.5 | 96 | A |
| Sandwich | Sandwich Free Public Library fine-free | 6.6 | 48 | C |
| Popponesset | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Forestdale | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Seabrook | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| New Seabury | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Popponesset Island | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Seconsett Island | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Mashpee Neck | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Mashpee 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 Mashpee
Does Mashpee have a public library?
Yes. Mashpee Public Library, 64 Steeple St., serves Mashpee’s 15,468 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mashpee 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 Mashpee’s library?
It logged 5.8 visits and lent 12.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Mashpee’s civic life grade?
A− Mashpee is ahead of 77% of U.S. towns on civic life, #85 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 Mashpee.
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.