Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 4.0Waltham’s library lends 6.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Waltham Public Library serves Waltham’s 64,065 residents. Last year it lent 415K print books and media and logged 249K visits.
What Waltham’s library is like
Every town next door borrows more
Waltham’s library lends 6.5 items per resident. Each of the six neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Weston at 24. Libraries next door ↓
Above typical on nearly every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Waltham Public Library is above the middle on five of the six per-resident measures we compare, and close to it on the other, with four in the top 30%. No single number stands out, and none lags far behind. How it compares ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Francis Buttrick Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1989. Today’s library there has 44,700 square feet. The building ↓
Open about 64 hours a week
Waltham Public Library is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 124 items go out. The building ↓
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 Waltham’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Waltham is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns, #164 of 283 in Massachusetts. Waltham’s count of community nonprofits holds 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 →
271 community nonprofits are registered in Waltham
4.2 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 (59 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 29 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.5%
6.5% of Waltham’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 Waltham’s residents live; 2022.
About 6 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 Waltham last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Waltham Public Library serves 64,065 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 124 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
415K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 121K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.4 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
A National Register landmark since 1989
Waltham Public Library, 735 Main St., Waltham.
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 Waltham? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Francis Buttrick Library
Buttrick, Francis, Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Sep 28, 1989. It is significant for its town planning and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Georgian Revival. It was listed as part of Waltham MRA.
The Waltham Public Library is the public library of the city of Waltham, Massachusetts. Its main location is in the Francis Buttrick Library, an architecturally significant Georgian Revival building built in 1915, funded by a bequest from Francis Buttrick, a major landowner in the city. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.42 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Waltham cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $4.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.6M 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 26,398 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Waltham ranks 7th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weston | Weston Public Library fine-free | 23.5 | 65 | A− |
| Lexington | Cary Memorial Library fine-free | 20.2 | 63 | A |
| Watertown | Watertown Free Public Library fine-free | 20.2 | 70 | C+ |
| Lincoln | Lincoln Public Library fine-free | 18.5 | 55 | A+ |
| Newton | Newton Free Library fine-free | 14.1 | 65 | A |
| Belmont | Belmont Public Library fine-free | 10.5 | 55 | A |
| Waltham | Waltham Public Library fine-free | 6.5 | 64 | B− |
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 Waltham
Does Waltham have a public library?
Yes. Waltham Public Library, 735 Main St., serves Waltham’s 64,065 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Waltham 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 Waltham’s library?
It logged 3.9 visits and lent 6.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Waltham’s civic life grade?
B− Waltham is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns on civic life, #164 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 Waltham.
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.