Photo: Tim Pierce · CC BY 3.0Stow’s library lends 5.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Randall Library serves Stow’s 7,042 residents. Last year it lent 36K print books and media and logged 24K visits.
What stands out about Stow’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Stow’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Stow is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns, #62 of 283 in Massachusetts. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
41 community nonprofits are registered in Stow
5.7 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 (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.
12.1%
12.1% of Stow’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 Stow’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Randall Library serves 7,042 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 20 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
36K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 35K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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 Stow last year.
Find it
Randall Library, 19 Crescent Street, Stow.
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 Stow? 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 $2.34 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Stow cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $244K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $569K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $244K 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 2,604 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Stow ranks 6th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sudbury | Goodnow Library fine-free | 18.2 | 64 | A+ |
| Acton | Acton Memorial Library fine-free | 15.0 | 87 | A |
| Boxborough | Sargent Memorial Library fine-free | 13.1 | 42 | A+ |
| Maynard | Maynard Public Library fine-free | 11.8 | 39 | A− |
| Hudson | Hudson Public Library fine-free | 7.4 | 60 | C |
| Stow | Randall Library fine-free | 5.1 | 37 | A− |
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 Stow
Does Stow have a public library?
Yes. Randall Library, 19 Crescent Street, serves Stow’s 7,042 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Randall 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 Stow’s library?
It logged 3.4 visits and lent 5.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Stow’s civic life grade?
A− Stow is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns on civic life, #62 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 Stow.
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.