Mount Vernon Cemetery · Photo: Pvmoutside · CC BY-SA 3.0West Boylston’s library lends 8.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Beaman Memorial Public Library serves West Boylston’s 7,757 residents. Last year it lent 69K print books and media and logged 57K visits.
The short version on West Boylston’s library
West Boylston uses its library more than almost any town its size
Beaman Memorial Public Library logs 7.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 8.9 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 87% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Beaman Memorial Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2016. Today’s library there has 19,000 square feet. The building ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 53% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 29 items per child in West Boylston last year. 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 West Boylston’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, West Boylston is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns, #130 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 →
27 community nonprofits are registered in West Boylston
3.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.2%
7.2% of West Boylston’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 West Boylston’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 West Boylston last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Beaman Memorial Public Library serves 7,757 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
69K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 53K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
A National Register landmark since 2016
Beaman Memorial Public Library, 8 Newton St., West Boylston.
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 West Boylston? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Beaman Memorial Public Library
Beaman Memorial Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 16, 2016. It is significant for its town planning, education and architecture at the local level.
The Beaman Memorial Public Library is the public library of West Boylston, Massachusetts. It is located near the town common, at 8 Newton Street, in an architecturally distinguished Colonial Revival building constructed in 1912 to a design by Worcester architect Lucius W. Briggs. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.69 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average West Boylston cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $630K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $630K 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 3,871 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
West Boylston ranks 4th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holden | Gale Free Library | 10.5 | 52 | B− |
| Sterling | Conant Free Public Library fine-free | 10.2 | 42 | B |
| Shrewsbury | Shrewsbury Free Public Library fine-free | 9.1 | 62 | A− |
| West Boylston | Beaman Memorial Public Library fine-free | 8.9 | 42 | B |
| Boylston | Boylston Public Library fine-free | 5.8 | 43 | A− |
| Worcester | Worcester Public Library fine-free | 3.2 | — | 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.
- 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 West Boylston
Does West Boylston have a public library?
Yes. Beaman Memorial Public Library, 8 Newton St., serves West Boylston’s 7,757 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Beaman Memorial 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 West Boylston’s library?
It logged 7.3 visits and lent 8.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is West Boylston’s civic life grade?
B West Boylston is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns on civic life, #130 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 West Boylston.
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.