Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Needham’s library logs 8.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Needham Free Public Library serves Needham’s 32,114 residents. Last year it lent 443K print books and media and logged 287K visits.
Needham’s library, in brief
Needham uses its library more than almost any town its size
Needham Free Public Library logs 8.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 14 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 96% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 53% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 26 items per child in Needham last year. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
72% of the 541 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 3.7 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 65 hours a week
Needham Free Public Library is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 131 items go out. The building ↓
Needham invests in its library
Needham Free Public Library spends $85 per resident a year, about twice the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (94%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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 Needham’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Needham is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns, #88 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 →
216 community nonprofits are registered in Needham
6.7 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 (19 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.
5.8%
5.8% of Needham’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 Needham’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 131 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
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.
Needham Free Public Library serves 32,114 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
443K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 174K 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 8 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 Needham last year.
Find it
Needham Free Public Library, 1139 Highland Ave., Needham.
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 Needham? 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 $2.39 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Needham cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.7M 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 16,777 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Needham ranks 4th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wellesley | Wellesley Free Library fine-free | 18.1 | — | A− |
| Newton | Newton Free Library fine-free | 14.1 | 65 | A |
| Westwood | Westwood Public Library fine-free | 14.0 | 89 | B+ |
| Needham | Needham Free Public Library fine-free | 13.8 | 65 | A− |
| Dover | Dover Town Library fine-free | 12.5 | 51 | A− |
| Dedham | Dedham Public Library fine-free | 6.2 | 99 | B |
| Boston | Boston Public Library fine-free | 3.4 | — | C |
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 Needham
Does Needham have a public library?
Yes. Needham Free Public Library, 1139 Highland Ave., serves Needham’s 32,114 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Needham Free 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 Needham’s library?
It logged 8.9 visits and lent 13.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Needham’s civic life grade?
A− Needham is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns on civic life, #88 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 Needham.
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.