Dorchester’s library lends 9.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Dorchester Public Library serves Dorchester’s 1,078 residents. Last year it lent 11K books, movies and e-books and logged 3,989 visits.
What Dorchester’s library is like
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 56% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 22 items per child in Dorchester last year. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Dorchester Public Library serves 1,078 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 29 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 ↓
Programs lean toward adults
66% of the 155 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 51 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Dorchester Public Library holds 20,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years last year. What people borrow ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 4% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 67% 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Dorchester’s civic life grade
Dorchester 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 →
155 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 Dorchester last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Dorchester Public Library serves 1,078 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
11K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 20K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
470 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Dorchester Public Library, 155 N. Second St., Dorchester.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Dorchester? 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 $2.04 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Dorchester cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $82K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $167K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $82K 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 402 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.
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 Dorchester
Does Dorchester have a public library?
Yes. Dorchester Public Library, 155 N. Second St., serves Dorchester’s 1,078 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 29 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dorchester 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 Dorchester’s library?
It logged 3.7 visits and lent 9.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Dorchester’s civic life grade?
Dorchester 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 Dorchester.
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.