Photo: Template:Sfoskett~commonswiki · CC BY-SA 3.0Southborough’s library lends 13 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Southborough Public Library serves Southborough’s 10,409 residents. Last year it lent 134K print books and media and logged 48K visits.
Southborough’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 58% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 27 items per child in Southborough last year. Kids & programs ↓
Southborough is a town of borrowers
Southborough Public Library lends 13 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 95% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
76% of Southborough carry a library card
7,871 cards for 10,409 people, or 76%. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
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 Southborough’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Southborough is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns, #144 of 283 in Massachusetts. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
44 community nonprofits are registered in Southborough
4.2 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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.8%
6.8% of Southborough’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 Southborough’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 Southborough last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Southborough Public Library serves 10,409 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 49 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
134K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 72K 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.
Find it
Southborough Public Library, 25 Main St., Southborough.
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 Southborough? 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 $2.67 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Southborough cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $745K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $745K 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 7,871 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Southborough ranks 2nd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hopkinton | Hopkinton Public Library fine-free | 28.6 | 56 | B+ |
| Southborough | Southborough Public Library fine-free | 12.8 | 52 | B |
| Westborough | Westborough Public Library fine-free | 8.9 | 55 | A− |
| Ashland | Ashland Public Library fine-free | 7.5 | 54 | C |
| Framingham | Framingham Public Library fine-free | 6.3 | — | C |
| Marlborough | Marlborough Public Library fine-free | 3.2 | 57 | C− |
| Cordaville | 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.
- 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 Southborough
Does Southborough have a public library?
Yes. Southborough Public Library, 25 Main St., serves Southborough’s 10,409 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Southborough 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 Southborough’s library?
It logged 4.7 visits and lent 12.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Southborough’s civic life grade?
B Southborough is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns on civic life, #144 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 Southborough.
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.