Photo: BeccaDawn88 · CC BY-SA 4.0Medford’s library logs 9.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Medford Public Library serves Medford’s 885 residents. Last year it lent 4,786 books, movies and e-books and logged 8,736 visits.
The short version on Medford’s library
More library cards than residents
1,535 cards for 885 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 ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Medford Public Library offered 4 programs last year, 4.5 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Medford Public Library serves 885 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 35 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 ↓
People come to Medford Public Library a lot
Medford Public Library logs 9.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 89% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 5.4 print items per resident. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Medford’s civic life grade
Medford 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 →
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Medford Public Library serves 885 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
4,786 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 7,327 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
12 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
4 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 Medford last year.
Find it
Medford Public Library, 123 S Main, Medford.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Medford? 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 $1.47 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Medford cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $53K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $78K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $53K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 1,535 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Medford 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 Medford
Does Medford have a public library?
Yes. Medford Public Library, 123 S Main, serves Medford’s 885 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Medford Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Medford’s library?
It logged 9.9 visits and lent 5.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Medford’s civic life grade?
Medford 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 Medford.
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.