Photo: T.S. Custadio aka ToddC4176 at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Pembroke’s library logs 4.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Pembroke Public Library serves Pembroke’s 18,297 residents. Last year it lent 101K print books and media and logged 87K visits.
What stands out about Pembroke’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Pembroke’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Pembroke is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns, #77 of 283 in Massachusetts. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks 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 →
69 community nonprofits are registered in Pembroke
3.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
12.0%
12.0% of Pembroke’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 Pembroke’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Pembroke Public Library serves 18,297 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 33 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
101K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 86K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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 Pembroke last year.
Find it
Pembroke Public Library, 142 Center St., Pembroke.
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 Pembroke? 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 $1.59 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Pembroke cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $997K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $997K 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 8,257 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Pembroke ranks 6th of 9 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norwell | Norwell Public Library | 12.6 | 50 | A |
| Duxbury | Duxbury Free Library fine-free | 11.5 | 52 | A− |
| Kingston | Kingston Public Library fine-free | 9.2 | 48 | B+ |
| Marshfield | Ventress Memorial Library fine-free | 6.3 | 59 | A− |
| Plympton | Plympton Public Library fine-free | 5.6 | 27 | C+ |
| Pembroke | Pembroke Public Library fine-free | 5.5 | 59 | A− |
| Hanover | John Curtis Free Library | 5.4 | 46 | B+ |
| Halifax | Holmes Public Library fine-free | 4.4 | 39 | B− |
| Hanson | Hanson Public Library fine-free | 4.2 | 41 | B− |
| North Pembroke | 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.
- 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 Pembroke
Does Pembroke have a public library?
Yes. Pembroke Public Library, 142 Center St., serves Pembroke’s 18,297 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 59 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pembroke 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 Pembroke’s library?
It logged 4.8 visits and lent 5.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Pembroke’s civic life grade?
A− Pembroke is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns on civic life, #77 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 Pembroke.
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.