Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Rehoboth’s library runs 17 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Blanding Free Public Library serves Rehoboth’s 13,023 residents. Last year it lent 37K print books and media and logged 38K visits.
What’s behind Rehoboth’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Rehoboth is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns, #236 of 283 in Massachusetts. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Rehoboth’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Blanding Free Public Library spends $22 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($104K–$173K) 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 →
44 community nonprofits are registered in Rehoboth
3.4 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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.3%
5.3% of Rehoboth’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 Rehoboth’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Blanding Free Public Library serves 13,023 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
37K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 36K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 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 Rehoboth last year.
Find it
Blanding Free Public Library, 124 Bay State Road, Rehoboth.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Rehoboth? 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 $1.97 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rehoboth cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $290K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $571K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $290K 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 2,569 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Rehoboth ranks 5th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seekonk | Seekonk Public Library | 10.9 | 57 | B− |
| Swansea | Swansea Free Public Library fine-free | 3.8 | 49 | C− |
| Norton | Norton Public Library fine-free | 3.5 | 41 | C+ |
| Attleboro | Attleboro Public Library fine-free | 3.3 | 53 | C− |
| Rehoboth | Blanding Free Public Library | 2.9 | 50 | C− |
| Taunton | Taunton Public Library | 1.4 | 63 | 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.
- 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 Rehoboth
Does Rehoboth have a public library?
Yes. Blanding Free Public Library, 124 Bay State Road, serves Rehoboth’s 13,023 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Blanding Free 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 Rehoboth’s library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 2.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Rehoboth’s civic life grade?
C− Rehoboth is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns on civic life, #236 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 Rehoboth.
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.