Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0North Scituate’s library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Scituate Town Library serves 19,190 people in and around North Scituate. Last year it lent 207K print books and media and logged 124K visits.
What North Scituate’s library is like
North Scituate uses its library more than almost any town its size
Scituate Town Library logs 6.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 11 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 88% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 54% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Scituate Town Library serves more than North Scituate
The library’s service area covers 19,190 people in and around North Scituate, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
A place to get online
Scituate Town Library logs about 2,582 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 16 public computers. That’s 49 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
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 North Scituate’s civic life grade
North Scituate isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
About 3 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Scituate Town Library serves 19,190 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 64 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
207K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 81K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.6 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Scituate Town Library, 85 Branch St., Scituate.
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 North Scituate? 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 $4.82 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average North Scituate cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M 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 8,354 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
North Scituate ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
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 North Scituate
Does North Scituate have a public library?
Yes. Scituate Town Library, 85 Branch St., serves 19,190 people in and around North Scituate (the survey’s count) and is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Scituate Town 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 North Scituate’s library?
It logged 6.5 visits and lent 10.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is North Scituate’s civic life grade?
North Scituate isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in North Scituate.
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.