Vintonville Historic District · Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Westborough’s library lends 8.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Westborough Public Library serves Westborough’s 21,506 residents. Last year it lent 192K print books and media and logged 112K visits.
What stands out about Westborough’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Westborough’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Westborough is ahead of 77% of U.S. towns, #87 of 283 in Massachusetts. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank 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 →
104 community nonprofits are registered in Westborough
4.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (17 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.3%
8.3% of Westborough’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 Westborough’s residents live; 2022.
About 7 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 Westborough last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Westborough Public Library serves 21,506 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 68 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
192K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 64K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Westborough Public Library, 55 West Main St., Westborough.
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 Westborough? 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 $1.79 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Westborough cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.6M 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 14,752 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Westborough ranks 5th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hopkinton | Hopkinton Public Library fine-free | 28.6 | 56 | B+ |
| Southborough | Southborough Public Library fine-free | 12.8 | 52 | B |
| Northborough | Northborough Free Library fine-free | 9.5 | 51 | A− |
| Shrewsbury | Shrewsbury Free Public Library fine-free | 9.1 | 62 | A− |
| Westborough | Westborough Public Library fine-free | 8.9 | 55 | A− |
| Upton | Upton Town Library fine-free | 7.0 | 50 | A− |
| Grafton | Grafton Public Library fine-free | 3.8 | 53 | C+ |
| Cordaville | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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 Westborough
Does Westborough have a public library?
Yes. Westborough Public Library, 55 West Main St., serves Westborough’s 21,506 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Westborough 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 Westborough’s library?
It logged 5.2 visits and lent 8.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Westborough’s civic life grade?
A− Westborough is ahead of 77% of U.S. towns on civic life, #87 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 Westborough.
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.