Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 4.0Taunton’s library logs 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Taunton Public Library serves Taunton’s 59,922 residents. Last year it lent 87K print books and media and logged 56K visits.
What Taunton’s library is like
Taunton Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Taunton Public Library records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 1.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. How it compares ↓
Every town next door borrows more
Taunton’s library lends 1.4 items per resident. Each of the eight neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Lakeville at 6.4. Libraries next door ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Taunton Public Library offered 233 programs last year, 3.9 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
78% of the 233 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.8 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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 Taunton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Taunton is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns, #275 of 283 in Massachusetts. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Taunton’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Taunton’s 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($59K–$99K) 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 →
164 community nonprofits are registered in Taunton
2.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (27 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.
4.7%
4.7% of Taunton’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 Taunton’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1984
Taunton Public Library, 12 Pleasant Street, Taunton.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Taunton? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Taunton Public Library
Taunton Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jul 5, 1984. It is significant for its education and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Beaux Arts. It was listed as part of Taunton MRA.
Taunton Public Library is the public library of Taunton, Massachusetts. It is located at 12 Pleasant Street, in an architecturally distinguished Beaux Arts building built in 1903 with funding support from Andrew Carnegie, to which a modern addition was made in 1979. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a particularly fine local example of Beaux Arts architecture.
More about the building →Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Taunton Public Library serves 59,922 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 26 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
87K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 171K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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 Taunton last year.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Taunton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.3M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 14,338 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Taunton ranks 9th of 9 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lakeville | Lakeville Free Public Library | 6.4 | 40 | B |
| North Lakeville | Lakeville Free Public Library | 6.4 | 40 | — graded as part of its town |
| Middleborough | Middleborough Public Library fine-free | 4.8 | 51 | C− |
| Raynham | Raynham Public Library | 4.4 | 47 | C |
| Norton | Norton Public Library fine-free | 3.5 | 41 | C+ |
| Rehoboth | Blanding Free Public Library | 2.9 | 50 | C− |
| Berkley | Berkley Public Library | 2.8 | 29 | C |
| Dighton | Dighton Public Library fine-free | 2.4 | 35 | C− |
| Taunton | Taunton Public Library | 1.4 | 63 | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Taunton 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 Taunton
Does Taunton have a public library?
Yes. Taunton Public Library, 12 Pleasant Street, serves Taunton’s 59,922 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 63 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Taunton Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Taunton’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 1.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Taunton’s civic life grade?
D Taunton is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns on civic life, #275 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 Taunton.
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.