District No. 5 School · Photo: Tim Pierce · CC BY-SA 3.0Shrewsbury’s library logs 9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Shrewsbury Free Public Library serves Shrewsbury’s 39,805 residents. Last year it lent 361K print books and media and logged 359K visits.
Shrewsbury’s library, in brief
Shrewsbury uses its library more than almost any town its size
Shrewsbury Free Public Library logs 9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 9.1 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 87% 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 59% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 24 items per child in Shrewsbury last year. Kids & programs ↓
Programs draw a crowd
40,000 people came to the library’s 1,125 programs last year: 1 per resident, against a typical 0.3, more than at 95% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
A place to get online
Shrewsbury Free Public Library logs about 1,234 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 35 public computers. That’s 11 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
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 Shrewsbury’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Shrewsbury is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns, #93 of 283 in Massachusetts. Library visits hold the grade up; Shrewsbury’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
120 community nonprofits are registered in Shrewsbury
3.1 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 (15 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 11 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.2%
9.2% of Shrewsbury’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 Shrewsbury’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 112 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
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.
Shrewsbury Free Public Library serves 39,805 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
361K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 120K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 11 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 Shrewsbury last year.
Find it
Shrewsbury Free Public Library, 609 Main St., Shrewsbury.
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 Shrewsbury? 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 $3.25 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Shrewsbury cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.1M 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 26,871 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Shrewsbury ranks 2nd of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northborough | Northborough Free Library fine-free | 9.5 | 51 | A− |
| Shrewsbury | Shrewsbury Free Public Library fine-free | 9.1 | 62 | A− |
| Westborough | Westborough Public Library fine-free | 8.9 | 55 | A− |
| West Boylston | Beaman Memorial Public Library fine-free | 8.9 | 42 | B |
| Boylston | Boylston Public Library fine-free | 5.8 | 43 | A− |
| Grafton | Grafton Public Library fine-free | 3.8 | 53 | C+ |
| Worcester | Worcester Public Library fine-free | 3.2 | — | 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 Shrewsbury
Does Shrewsbury have a public library?
Yes. Shrewsbury Free Public Library, 609 Main St., serves Shrewsbury’s 39,805 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Shrewsbury Free 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 Shrewsbury’s library?
It logged 9.0 visits and lent 9.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Shrewsbury’s civic life grade?
A− Shrewsbury is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns on civic life, #93 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 Shrewsbury.
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.