Photo: T.S. Custadio aka ToddC4176 at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Rochester’s library runs 62 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Joseph H. Plumb Memorial Library serves Rochester’s 5,816 residents. Last year it lent 36K print books and media and logged 8,600 visits.
What stands out about Rochester’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Rochester’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Rochester is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns, #143 of 283 in Massachusetts. Rochester’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
34 community nonprofits are registered in Rochester
5.8 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.5%
9.5% of Rochester’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 Rochester’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Joseph H. Plumb Memorial Library serves 5,816 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
36K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 19K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.9 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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 Rochester last year.
Find it
Joseph H. Plumb Memorial Library, 17 Constitution Way, Rochester.
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 Rochester? 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 $2.28 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rochester cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $258K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $587K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $258K 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 1,780 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Rochester ranks 4th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mattapoisett | Mattapoisett Free Public Library | 13.4 | 41 | A− |
| Acushnet | Acushnet Public Library fine-free | 6.8 | 43 | C |
| Marion | Elizabeth Taber Library fine-free | 6.3 | 46 | A− |
| Rochester | Joseph H. Plumb Memorial Library fine-free | 6.2 | 38 | B |
| Middleborough | Middleborough Public Library fine-free | 4.8 | 51 | C− |
| Wareham | Wareham Free Library | 3.5 | 55 | C− |
| West Wareham | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Joseph H. Plumb Memorial Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- 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 Rochester
Does Rochester have a public library?
Yes. Joseph H. Plumb Memorial Library, 17 Constitution Way, serves Rochester’s 5,816 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Joseph H. Plumb Memorial 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 Rochester’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 6.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Rochester’s civic life grade?
B Rochester is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns on civic life, #143 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 Rochester.
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.