Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0Cambridge’s library lends 15 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Cambridge Community Library serves Cambridge’s 2,625 residents. Last year it lent 47K books, movies and e-books and logged 20K visits.
The short version on Cambridge’s library
Cambridge uses its library more than almost any town its size
Cambridge Community Library logs 7.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 15 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 88% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Nearly everyone in Cambridge has a card
2,528 cards for 2,625 people, or 96%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 36% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 38 items per child in Cambridge last year. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 2.8 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 87% of similar-size libraries. It’s 16% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
A place to get online
Cambridge Community Library logs about 71 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 9 public computers. That’s 9.9 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.
What’s behind Cambridge’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Cambridge is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns. Cambridge is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
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 →
9 community nonprofits are registered in Cambridge
5.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
15.6%
15.6% of Cambridge’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.6% in the typical Wisconsin 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.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
47K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 39K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
7,312 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Cambridge Community Library serves 2,625 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 2 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 Cambridge last year.
Find it
Cambridge Community Library, 101 Spring Water Aly., 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 $2.91 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cambridge cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $283K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $826K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $283K 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 2,528 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 Community Library fine-free | 17.9 | 48 | A+ |
| Christiana | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Oakland | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Lake Ripley | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Community Library, 101 Spring Water Aly., serves Cambridge’s 2,625 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cambridge Community 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 7.5 visits and lent 17.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Cambridge’s civic life grade?
A+ Cambridge is ahead of 96% 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.