Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY 4.0Orange’s library logs 1.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Wheeler Memorial Library serves Orange’s 7,558 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 25K print books and media and logged 13K visits.
What Orange’s library is like
Every town next door borrows more
Orange’s library lends 3.3 items per resident. Each of the six neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Wendell at 21. Libraries next door ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Orange’s library system holds 42,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years last year. What people borrow ↓
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 Orange’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Orange is ahead of 31% of U.S. towns, #216 of 283 in Massachusetts. Orange’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($42K–$70K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
31 community nonprofits are registered in Orange
4.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.0%
7.0% of Orange’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 Orange’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Wheeler Memorial Library serves 7,558 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
25K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 42K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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 Orange last year.
2 places to borrow in Orange
Wheeler Memorial Library, 49 East Main Street, Orange.
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 Orange? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Orange
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.08 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Orange cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $383K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $414K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $383K 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 3,084 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Orange ranks 7th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wendell | Wendell Free Library fine-free | 21.4 | 21 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Erving | Erving Public Library fine-free | 13.7 | 33 | B+ |
| New Salem | New Salem Public Library fine-free | 11.1 | 20 | A |
| Athol | Athol Public Library fine-free | 6.4 | 46 | B− |
| Warwick | Warwick Free Public Library fine-free | 6.3 | 18 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Royalston | Phinehas S. Newton Library fine-free | 5.4 | 17 | B |
| Orange | Wheeler Memorial Library fine-free | 3.3 | 44 | 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 Orange
Does Orange have a public library?
Yes. Wheeler Memorial Library, 49 East Main Street, serves Orange’s 7,558 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Wheeler Memorial 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 Orange’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 3.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Orange’s civic life grade?
C Orange is ahead of 31% of U.S. towns on civic life, #216 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 Orange.
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.