Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Medford’s library runs 23 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Charlotte and William Bloomberg Medford Public Library serves Medford’s 65,399 residents. Last year it lent 403K print books and media and logged 225K visits.
What stands out about Medford’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Medford’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Medford is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns, #161 of 283 in Massachusetts. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Medford’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 →
167 community nonprofits are registered in Medford
2.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (43 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 8 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.3%
9.3% of Medford’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 Medford’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.
Charlotte and William Bloomberg Medford Public Library serves 65,399 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 127 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
403K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 144K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.8 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 14 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 Medford last year.
Find it
Charlotte and William Bloomberg Medford Public Library, 111 High St., Medford.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Medford? 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 $2.33 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Medford cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.7M 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 20,556 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Medford ranks 3rd of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arlington | Robbins Library fine-free | 16.6 | 97 | A |
| Winchester | Winchester Public Library fine-free | 14.8 | 61 | A− |
| Medford | Charlotte and William Bloomberg Medford Public Library | 6.2 | 61 | B− |
| Stoneham | Stoneham Public Library fine-free | 5.3 | 51 | C |
| Somerville | Somerville Public Library fine-free | 4.6 | — | B+ |
| Malden | Malden Public Library fine-free | 3.2 | 58 | C+ |
| Everett | Everett Public Libraries fine-free | 1.0 | 92 | D− |
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 Medford
Does Medford have a public library?
Yes. Charlotte and William Bloomberg Medford Public Library, 111 High St., serves Medford’s 65,399 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Charlotte and William Bloomberg Medford Public 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 Medford’s library?
It logged 3.4 visits and lent 6.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Medford’s civic life grade?
B− Medford is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns on civic life, #161 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 Medford.
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.