Warren Sweetser House · Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Stoneham’s library lends 5.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Stoneham Public Library serves Stoneham’s 22,705 residents. Last year it lent 119K print books and media and logged 57K visits.
What Stoneham’s library is like
Every town next door borrows more
Stoneham’s library lends 5.3 items per resident. Each of the six neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Winchester at 15. Libraries next door ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Stoneham Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1984. Today’s library there has 25,000 square feet. The building ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 62% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 76% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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 Stoneham’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Stoneham is ahead of 29% of U.S. towns, #223 of 283 in Massachusetts. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Stoneham’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($85K–$142K) 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 →
84 community nonprofits are registered in Stoneham
3.6 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.
6.2%
6.2% of Stoneham’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 Stoneham’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1984
Stoneham Public Library, 431 Main St., Stoneham.
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 Stoneham? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Stoneham Public Library
Stoneham Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Apr 13, 1984. It is significant for its architecture and social history at the local level. Its architecture is described as Classical Revival. It was listed as part of Stoneham MRA.
The Stoneham Public Library is the public library of Stoneham, Massachusetts. It is located at Main and Maple Streets.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Stoneham Public Library serves 22,705 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 45 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: library cards. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
119K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 60K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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 Stoneham last year.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.71 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Stoneham resident borrows (the library didn’t report its card count for 2024).
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.1M 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 resident’s month = the library’s yearly loans and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ the 22,705 people it serves ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Stoneham ranks 7th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winchester | Winchester Public Library fine-free | 14.8 | 61 | A− |
| Reading | Reading Public Library fine-free | 13.6 | 59 | B |
| Wakefield | Lucius Beebe Memorial Library fine-free | 10.5 | 65 | B+ |
| Melrose | Melrose Public Library fine-free | 7.3 | 55 | C |
| Medford | Charlotte and William Bloomberg Medford Public Library | 6.2 | 61 | B− |
| Woburn | Woburn Public Library fine-free | 6.0 | 62 | C+ |
| Stoneham | Stoneham Public Library fine-free | 5.3 | 51 | 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.
- Not reported for 2024: library cards. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Stoneham 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 Stoneham
Does Stoneham have a public library?
Yes. Stoneham Public Library, 431 Main St., serves Stoneham’s 22,705 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Stoneham 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 Stoneham’s library?
It logged 2.5 visits and lent 5.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Stoneham’s civic life grade?
C Stoneham is ahead of 29% of U.S. towns on civic life, #223 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 Stoneham.
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.