Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Northborough’s library lends 9.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Northborough Free Library serves Northborough’s 15,663 residents. Last year it lent 148K print books and media and logged 97K visits.
What Northborough’s library is like
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 66% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 94% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 29 items per child in Northborough last year. Kids & programs ↓
Northborough uses its library more than almost any town its size
Northborough Free Library logs 6.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 9.5 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 87% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Northborough out-borrows every town next door
At 9.5 loans per resident, Northborough leads the six towns here. The closest is Shrewsbury, at 9.1. Libraries next door ↓
76% of Northborough carry a library card
11,879 cards for 15,663 people, or 76%. 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 Northborough’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Northborough is ahead of 77% of U.S. towns, #86 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 →
67 community nonprofits are registered in Northborough
4.3 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.4%
8.4% of Northborough’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 Northborough’s residents live; 2022.
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 Northborough 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.
Northborough Free Library serves 15,663 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 56 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
148K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 65K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.3 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Northborough Free Library, 34 Main Street, Northborough.
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 Northborough? 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 $2.10 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Northborough cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M 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 11,879 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Northborough borrows the most per resident of the 6 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northborough | Northborough Free Library fine-free | 9.5 | 51 | A− |
| Shrewsbury | Shrewsbury Free Public Library fine-free | 9.1 | 62 | A− |
| Westborough | Westborough Public Library fine-free | 8.9 | 55 | A− |
| Boylston | Boylston Public Library fine-free | 5.8 | 43 | A− |
| Marlborough | Marlborough Public Library fine-free | 3.2 | 57 | C− |
| Berlin | Berlin Public Library fine-free | 2.6 | 31 | 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 Northborough
Does Northborough have a public library?
Yes. Northborough Free Library, 34 Main Street, serves Northborough’s 15,663 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Northborough Free 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 Northborough’s library?
It logged 6.2 visits and lent 9.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Northborough’s civic life grade?
A− Northborough is ahead of 77% of U.S. towns on civic life, #86 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 Northborough.
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.