Assington · Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Sherborn’s library lends 17 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Sherborn Library serves Sherborn’s 4,372 residents. Last year it lent 73K print books and media and logged 41K visits.
What Sherborn’s library is like
Sherborn uses its library more than almost any town its size
Sherborn Library logs 9.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 17 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 93% 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 60% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 34 items per child in Sherborn last year. Kids & programs ↓
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Sherborn Library ran 587 programs last year, about 11 a week. That’s 134 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 10,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Top 10% in Massachusetts for borrowing
Sherborn ranks #14 of 268 Massachusetts towns with a library of their own for items borrowed per resident. Print borrowing alone runs 17 items per resident, more than at 98% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
Sherborn out-borrows every town next door
At 17 loans per resident, Sherborn leads the eight towns here. The closest is Millis, at 15. Libraries next door ↓
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 Sherborn’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Sherborn is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns, #8 of 283 in Massachusetts. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Sherborn’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
42 community nonprofits are registered in Sherborn
9.5 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 (2 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.
10.7%
10.7% of Sherborn’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 Sherborn’s residents live; 2022.
About 5 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 Sherborn last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Sherborn Library serves 4,372 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 29 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
73K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 51K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.4 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Sherborn Library, 4 Sanger St., Sherborn.
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 Sherborn? 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 $1.64 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sherborn cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $715K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $715K 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 1,728 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Sherborn borrows the most per resident of the 8 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sherborn | Sherborn Library fine-free | 16.7 | 48 | A+ |
| Millis | Millis Public Library fine-free | 14.8 | 52 | B |
| Natick | Morse Institute Library fine-free | 12.6 | 64 | B |
| Dover | Dover Town Library fine-free | 12.5 | 51 | A− |
| Medfield | Medfield Memorial Library fine-free | 11.1 | 51 | A− |
| Holliston | Holliston Public Library fine-free | 10.0 | 48 | A |
| Ashland | Ashland Public Library fine-free | 7.5 | 54 | C |
| Framingham | Framingham Public Library fine-free | 6.3 | — | 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. Sherborn 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 Sherborn
Does Sherborn have a public library?
Yes. Sherborn Library, 4 Sanger St., serves Sherborn’s 4,372 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sherborn 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 Sherborn’s library?
It logged 9.3 visits and lent 16.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Sherborn’s civic life grade?
A+ Sherborn is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns on civic life, #8 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 Sherborn.
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.