Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY 4.0Whitinsville’s library runs 33 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Whitinsville Social Library serves 16,337 people in and around Whitinsville. Last year it lent 86K print books and media and logged 25K visits.
What Whitinsville’s library is like
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
26% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 64%. What your card is worth ↓
Whitinsville Social Library serves more than Whitinsville
The library’s service area covers 16,337 people in and around Whitinsville, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
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 Whitinsville’s civic life grade
Whitinsville isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Whitinsville Social Library serves 16,337 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 35 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
86K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 57K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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.
Find it
Whitinsville Social Library, 17 Church St., Whitinsville.
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 Whitinsville? 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 $3.14 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Whitinsville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $422K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $422K 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 5,718 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Whitinsville ranks 2nd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sutton | Sutton Free Public Library fine-free | 5.4 | 48 | C+ |
| Whitinsville | Whitinsville Social Library fine-free | 5.3 | 48 | — graded as part of its town |
| Northbridge | Whitinsville Social Library fine-free | 5.3 | 48 | C− |
| Uxbridge | Uxbridge Free Public Library fine-free | 4.1 | 37 | 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 Whitinsville
Does Whitinsville have a public library?
Yes. Whitinsville Social Library, 17 Church St., serves 16,337 people in and around Whitinsville (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Whitinsville Social 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 Whitinsville’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 5.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Whitinsville’s civic life grade?
Whitinsville isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Whitinsville.
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.