Photo: Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger) · Public domainNatick’s library lends 13 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Morse Institute Library serves Natick’s 29,705 residents. Last year it lent 373K print books and media and logged 150K visits.
What Natick’s library is like
Natick uses its library more than almost any town its size
Morse Institute Library logs 5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 13 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 87% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 47% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 22 items per child in Natick last year. Kids & programs ↓
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Morse Institute Library ran 1,031 programs last year, about 20 a week. That’s 35 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 64 hours a week
Morse Institute Library is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. The buildings ↓
Programs lean toward adults
59% of the 1,031 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 213 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 Natick’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Natick is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns, #129 of 283 in Massachusetts. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
169 community nonprofits are registered in Natick
4.6 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 (26 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.8%
6.8% of Natick’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 Natick’s residents live; 2022.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
373K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 154K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.4 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Morse Institute Library serves 29,705 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
A year at Morse Institute Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: hours open. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
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 Natick last year.
2 places to borrow in Natick
Morse Institute Library, 14 East Central Street, Natick.
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 Natick? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Natick
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.84 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Natick cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.2M 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 17,516 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Natick ranks 5th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weston | Weston Public Library fine-free | 23.5 | 65 | A− |
| Wellesley | Wellesley Free Library fine-free | 18.1 | — | A− |
| Sherborn | Sherborn Library fine-free | 16.7 | 48 | A+ |
| Wayland | Wayland Free Public Library fine-free | 13.2 | 62 | A− |
| Natick | Morse Institute Library fine-free | 12.6 | 64 | B |
| Dover | Dover Town Library fine-free | 12.5 | 51 | A− |
| Framingham | Framingham Public Library fine-free | 6.3 | — | C |
| Cochituate | 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.
- Not reported for 2024: hours open. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Morse Institute 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 Natick
Does Natick have a public library?
Yes. Morse Institute Library, 14 East Central Street, serves Natick’s 29,705 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Morse Institute 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 Natick’s library?
It logged 5.0 visits and lent 12.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Natick’s civic life grade?
B Natick is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns on civic life, #129 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 Natick.
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.