Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Plainville’s library lends 6.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Plainville Public Library serves Plainville’s 9,865 residents. Last year it lent 68K print books and media and drew 5,999 people to its programs.
The short version on Plainville’s library
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 59% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 86% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 22 items per child in Plainville last year. Kids & programs ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Plainville Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Two of the three libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. 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 Plainville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Plainville is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns, #228 of 283 in Massachusetts. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so Plainville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Plainville’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
The survey’s stand-in for Plainville’s 2024 visits is its own estimate, so it is left out.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($78K–$130K) 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 →
34 community nonprofits are registered in Plainville
3.4 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.1%
6.1% of Plainville’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 Plainville’s residents live; 2022.
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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Plainville last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Plainville Public Library serves 9,865 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 35 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
68K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 38K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.8 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Plainville Public Library, 198 South St., Plainville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Plainville? 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 $2.66 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Plainville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $379K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $379K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 4,011 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Plainville ranks 2nd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cumberland | Cumberland Public Library fine-free | 8.2 | 57 | C |
| Plainville | Plainville Public Library | 6.9 | 38 | C |
| Wrentham | Fiske Public Library fine-free | 3.6 | 41 | C− |
| North Attleborough Town | Richards Memorial Library | 2.4 | 53 | D |
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.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Plainville Public Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate is its own, so we leave it out and never rank it.
- 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 Plainville
Does Plainville have a public library?
Yes. Plainville Public Library, 198 South St., serves Plainville’s 9,865 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Plainville Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Plainville’s library?
It lent 6.9 items per resident in 2024 (print) and ran 409 programs that drew 5,999 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Plainville’s civic life grade?
C Plainville is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns on civic life, #228 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 Plainville.
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.