Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0Cambridge’s library logs 25 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Cambridge Public Library serves Cambridge’s 1,870 residents. Last year it lent 17K books, movies and e-books and logged 46K visits.
The short version on Cambridge’s library
New York pays a big share
57% of the budget comes from the state, and 28% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
More library cards than residents
1,958 cards for 1,870 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
People come to Cambridge Public Library a lot
Cambridge Public Library logs 25 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 98% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 6.8 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Cambridge Public Library serves 1,870 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 30 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
A place to get online
Cambridge Public Library logs about 38 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 5 public computers. That’s 7.4 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Cambridge’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Cambridge is among the top 1% of U.S. towns. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
Cambridge Public Library logged 24.7 visits per resident in FY2024, #16 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare. The survey counts every visit, residents or not, and libraries don’t report how many come from out of town.
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 →
15 community nonprofits are registered in Cambridge
6.5 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
16.0%
16.0% of Cambridge’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.4% in the typical New York 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 Cambridge’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Cambridge Public Library serves 1,870 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
17K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 14K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
4,120 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
186 programs a year
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 Cambridge last year.
Find it
Cambridge Public Library, 21 West Main Street, Cambridge.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Cambridge? 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 $2.27 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cambridge cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $143K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $325K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $143K 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 1,958 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cambridge | Cambridge Public Library fine-free | 9.0 | 30 | A+ |
| Jackson | None of its own | — | — | A+ |
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.
- Visits count everyone. Cambridge’s 46,280 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Cambridge Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Cambridge
Does Cambridge have a public library?
Yes. Cambridge Public Library, 21 West Main Street, serves Cambridge’s 1,870 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cambridge 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 Cambridge’s library?
It logged 24.7 visits and lent 9.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Its visits per resident rank #16 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare.
What is Cambridge’s civic life grade?
A+ Cambridge is among the top 1% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Cambridge.
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.