Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Quincy’s library runs 31 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Thomas Crane Public Library serves Quincy’s 101,727 residents from 4 locations. Last year it lent 621K print books and media and logged 387K visits.
What Quincy’s library is like
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Thomas Crane Public Library ran 3,167 programs last year, about 61 a week. That’s 31 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9. Kids & programs ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Thomas Crane Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1972. Today’s library there has 78,000 square feet. The buildings ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 65% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 86% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 27 items per child in Quincy last year. Kids & programs ↓
People come to Thomas Crane Public Library a lot
Thomas Crane Public Library logs 3.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, more than 89% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 6.1 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
81% of the 3,167 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 453 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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 Quincy’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Quincy is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns, #203 of 283 in Massachusetts. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #144. Library visits hold the grade up; Quincy’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($74K–$124K) 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 →
230 community nonprofits are registered in Quincy
2.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (57 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 12 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.5%
7.5% of Quincy’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 Quincy’s residents live; 2022.
About 9 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 Quincy last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Thomas Crane Public Library serves 101,727 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 57 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
621K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 223K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.8 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
A National Register landmark since 1972
Thomas Crane Public Library, 40 Washington Street, Quincy.
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 Quincy? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Thomas Crane Public Library
Crane, Thomas, Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Oct 18, 1972, and named a National Historic Landmark on Dec 23, 1987. It is significant for its art and architecture at the national level. Its architecture is described as Richardsonian Romanesque.
The Thomas Crane Public Library (TCPL) is a city library in Quincy, Massachusetts. Noted for its Richardsonian Romanesque architecture, the building was funded by the Crane family as a memorial to Thomas Crane, a wealthy stone contractor who got his start in the Quincy quarries. The Thomas Crane Library has the second largest municipal collection in Massachusetts after the Boston Public Library.
More about the building →Other libraries in Quincy
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.64 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Quincy cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $5.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.5M 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 30,771 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Quincy ranks 2nd of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milton | Milton Public Library fine-free | 8.6 | 56 | B |
| Quincy | Thomas Crane Public Library fine-free | 6.1 | — | C+ |
| Braintree Town | Thayer Public Library fine-free | 6.0 | 57 | C+ |
| Weymouth Town | Weymouth Public Libraries fine-free | 4.6 | 76 | C+ |
| Boston | Boston Public Library fine-free | 3.4 | — | C |
| Randolph Town | Turner Free Library fine-free | 3.3 | 67 | C− |
| Hull | Hull Public Library | 2.5 | 40 | B− |
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 Quincy
Does Quincy have a public library?
Yes. Thomas Crane Public Library, 40 Washington Street, serves Quincy’s 101,727 residents (the survey’s count).
Is Thomas Crane 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 Quincy’s library?
It logged 3.8 visits and lent 6.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Quincy’s civic life grade?
C+ Quincy is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns on civic life, #203 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 Quincy.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.