Photo: 4300streetcar · CC BY 4.0Somerville’s library logs 5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Somerville Public Library serves Somerville’s 79,762 residents from 3 locations. Last year it lent 368K print books and media and logged 402K visits.
The short version on Somerville’s library
The library is a National Register landmark
Central Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1989. Today’s library there has 29,000 square feet. The buildings ↓
Three places to borrow in Somerville
Somerville Public Library runs three locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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 Somerville’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Somerville is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns, #108 of 283 in Massachusetts. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Somerville’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 →
261 community nonprofits are registered in Somerville
3.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (40 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 9 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.5%
9.5% of Somerville’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 Somerville’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 30 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Somerville Public Library serves 79,762 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Books and media off the shelf
368K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 113K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.3 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 13 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 Somerville last year.
A National Register landmark since 1989
Somerville Public Library, 79 Highland Avenue, Somerville.
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 Somerville? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Central Library
Central Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Sep 18, 1989. It is significant for its town planning and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Second Renaissance Revival. It was listed as part of Somerville MPS.
The Central Library is the main branch of the Somerville, Massachusetts, public library system. It is an architecturally distinguished Renaissance Revival brick building designed by Edward Lippincott Tilton and was built in 1914 with funding assistance from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
More about the building →Other libraries in Somerville
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.90 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Somerville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3M 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 29,830 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Somerville ranks 4th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arlington | Robbins Library fine-free | 16.6 | 97 | A |
| Cambridge | Cambridge Public Library fine-free | 11.3 | — | A |
| Medford | Charlotte and William Bloomberg Medford Public Library | 6.2 | 61 | B− |
| Somerville | Somerville Public Library fine-free | 4.6 | — | B+ |
| Boston | Boston Public Library fine-free | 3.4 | — | C |
| Everett | Everett Public Libraries fine-free | 1.0 | 92 | 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 Somerville
Does Somerville have a public library?
Yes. Somerville Public Library, 79 Highland Avenue, serves Somerville’s 79,762 residents (the survey’s count).
Is Somerville 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 Somerville’s library?
It logged 5.0 visits and lent 4.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Somerville’s civic life grade?
B+ Somerville is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns on civic life, #108 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 Somerville.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.