Photo: Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger) · Public domainSharon’s library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Sharon Public Library serves Sharon’s 18,408 residents. Last year it lent 200K print books and media and logged 13K visits.
The short version on Sharon’s library
People borrow more than they stay
Borrowing per resident is higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 95%. People come in, pick up their books and go. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 60% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 24 items per child in Sharon last year. Kids & programs ↓
Sharon out-borrows every town next door
At 11 loans per resident, Sharon leads the six towns here. The closest is Norwood, at 8.1. Libraries next door ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Sharon Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Four of the five 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 Sharon’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Sharon is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns, #214 of 283 in Massachusetts. Sharon’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($144K–$240K) 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 →
105 community nonprofits are registered in Sharon
5.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (31 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.8%
6.8% of Sharon’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 Sharon’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 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 Sharon last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Sharon Public Library serves 18,408 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 76 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
200K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 77K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.6 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Sharon Public Library, 11 North Main St., Sharon.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Sharon? 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 Sharon cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M 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 8,093 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Sharon borrows the most per resident of the 6 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sharon | Sharon Public Library | 10.9 | 51 | C |
| Norwood | Morrill Memorial Library fine-free | 8.1 | 63 | C+ |
| Canton | Canton Public Library fine-free | 7.8 | 54 | B |
| Foxborough | Boyden Library fine-free | 7.1 | 53 | B |
| Walpole | Walpole Public Library | 6.3 | 55 | A |
| Stoughton | Stoughton Public Library fine-free | 3.7 | 59 | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Sharon Public 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 Sharon
Does Sharon have a public library?
Yes. Sharon Public Library, 11 North Main St., serves Sharon’s 18,408 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sharon 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 Sharon’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 10.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Sharon’s civic life grade?
C Sharon is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns on civic life, #214 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 Sharon.
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.