Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0North Providence’s library runs 18 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Mayor Salvatore Mancini Union Free Library serves North Providence’s 34,114 residents. Last year it lent 167K books, movies and e-books and drew 11K people to its programs.
What stands out about North Providence’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind North Providence’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, North Providence is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns, #33 of 38 in Rhode Island. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so North Providence is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; North Providence’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
The survey’s stand-in for North Providence’s 2024 visits carries forward a 2023 figure, so it is left out.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($63K–$105K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
93 community nonprofits are registered in North Providence
2.7 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 (27 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.0%
5.0% of North Providence’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.4% in the typical Rhode Island 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 North Providence’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Mayor Salvatore Mancini Union Free Library serves 34,114 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 59 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
167K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 111K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
36,909 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in North Providence last year.
Find it
Mayor Salvatore Mancini Union Free Library, 1810 Mineral Spring Avenue, North Providence.
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 North Providence? 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 $2.53 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average North Providence cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M 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 10,464 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
North Providence ranks 3rd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smithfield | Greenville Public Library | 10.6 | 59 | C |
| Lincoln | Lincoln Public Library fine-free | 9.0 | 59 | C+ |
| North Providence | Mayor Salvatore Mancini Union Free Library fine-free | 4.9 | 55 | D |
| Providence | Providence Public Library | 2.6 | 50 | C+ |
| Johnston | Marian J. Mohr Memorial Library fine-free | 2.4 | 57 | D− |
| Pawtucket | Pawtucket Public Library fine-free | 1.9 | 63 | D |
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.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Mayor Salvatore Mancini Union Free Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate carries forward its 2023 figure, so we leave it out and never rank it.
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 North Providence
Does North Providence have a public library?
Yes. Mayor Salvatore Mancini Union Free Library, 1810 Mineral Spring Avenue, serves North Providence’s 34,114 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mayor Salvatore Mancini Union Free 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 North Providence’s library?
It lent 4.9 items per resident in 2024 (print and digital) and ran 598 programs that drew 11,438 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is North Providence’s civic life grade?
D North Providence is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns on civic life, #33 of 38 in Rhode Island. 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 North Providence.
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.