Woburn Public Library · Photo: Daderot · CC0Woburn’s library runs 36 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Woburn Public Library serves Woburn’s 41,248 residents. Last year it lent 248K print books and media and logged 171K visits.
The short version on Woburn’s library
The library is a National Register landmark
Woburn Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1976. Today’s library there has 44,500 square feet. The building ↓
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Woburn Public Library ran 1,476 programs last year, about 28 a week. That’s 36 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. People show up: 31,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 58% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 79% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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 Woburn’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Woburn is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns, #180 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 →
172 community nonprofits are registered in Woburn
4.1 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 (28 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 20 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.6%
5.6% of Woburn’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 Woburn’s residents live; 2022.
About 11 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 Woburn 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.
Woburn Public Library serves 41,248 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 77 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
248K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 91K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.7 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
A National Register landmark since 1976
Woburn Public Library, 45 Pleasant St., Woburn.
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 Woburn? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Woburn Public Library
Woburn Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Nov 13, 1976, and named a National Historic Landmark on Dec 23, 1987. It is significant for its architecture and social history at the national level. Its architecture is described as Richardsonian Romanesque.
Woburn Public Library, previously known as the Winn Memorial Library, is a National Historic Landmark in Woburn, Massachusetts. Designed by architect H. H. Richardson, the Romanesque Revival building was a bequest of the Winn family and built from 1876 to 1879. It houses the Woburn Public Library, an institution that was established in 1856.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.75 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Woburn cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.2M 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 15,448 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Woburn ranks 6th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lexington | Cary Memorial Library fine-free | 20.2 | 63 | A |
| Winchester | Winchester Public Library fine-free | 14.8 | 61 | A− |
| Reading | Reading Public Library fine-free | 13.6 | 59 | B |
| Burlington | Burlington Public Library fine-free | 8.2 | 58 | C+ |
| Wilmington | Wilmington Memorial Library fine-free | 6.2 | 58 | B |
| Woburn | Woburn Public Library fine-free | 6.0 | 62 | C+ |
| Stoneham | Stoneham Public Library fine-free | 5.3 | 51 | 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 Woburn
Does Woburn have a public library?
Yes. Woburn Public Library, 45 Pleasant St., serves Woburn’s 41,248 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Woburn 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 Woburn’s library?
It logged 4.2 visits and lent 6.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Woburn’s civic life grade?
C+ Woburn is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns on civic life, #180 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 Woburn.
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.