Photo: Terageorge · CC BY-SA 3.0Reading’s library lends 14 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Reading Public Library serves Reading’s 25,205 residents. Last year it lent 342K print books and media and logged 173K visits.
Reading’s library, in brief
Reading uses its library more than almost any town its size
Reading Public Library logs 6.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 14 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 95% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 55% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 32 items per child in Reading last year. Kids & programs ↓
Reading out-borrows every town next door
At 14 loans per resident, Reading leads the seven towns here. The closest is Wakefield, at 10. Libraries next door ↓
Reading invests in its library
Reading Public Library spends $97 per resident a year, about twice the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (95%) comes from local taxes. 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 Reading’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Reading is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns, #127 of 283 in Massachusetts. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
109 community nonprofits are registered in Reading
4.3 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 (9 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.
6.4%
6.4% of Reading’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 Reading’s residents live; 2022.
About 8 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 Reading last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Reading Public Library serves 25,205 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 112 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
342K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 87K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.9 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Reading Public Library, 64 Middlesex Ave., Reading.
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 Reading? 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 $2.14 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Reading cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.4M 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 15,760 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Reading borrows the most per resident of the 7 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | Reading Public Library fine-free | 13.6 | 59 | B |
| Wakefield | Lucius Beebe Memorial Library fine-free | 10.5 | 65 | B+ |
| Lynnfield | Lynnfield Public Library fine-free | 7.4 | 59 | B+ |
| North Reading | Flint Memorial Library fine-free | 6.7 | 47 | B− |
| Wilmington | Wilmington Memorial Library fine-free | 6.2 | 58 | B |
| Woburn | Woburn Public Library fine-free | 6.0 | 62 | C+ |
| Stoneham | Stoneham Public Library fine-free | 5.3 | 51 | 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 Reading
Does Reading have a public library?
Yes. Reading Public Library, 64 Middlesex Ave., serves Reading’s 25,205 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 59 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Reading 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 Reading’s library?
It logged 6.9 visits and lent 13.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Reading’s civic life grade?
B Reading is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns on civic life, #127 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 Reading.
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.