Westboro’s library lends 14 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Westboro Public Library serves 804 people in and around Westboro. Last year it lent 13K books, movies and e-books and logged 6,482 visits.
What Westboro’s library is like
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 59% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Westboro is a town of borrowers
Westboro Public Library lends 14 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 94% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
A small-town library
Westboro Public Library serves 804 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 28 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 ↓
Most programs are for young children
76% of the 122 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 39 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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 Westboro’s civic life grade
Westboro 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 →
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Westboro Public Library serves 804 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
13K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 9,807 books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
1,137 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Westboro Public Library, N8855 2nd St., Westboro.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Westboro? 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 $3.61 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Westboro cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $53K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $191K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $53K 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 218 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westboro | Westboro Public Library fine-free | 15.9 | 28 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Ogema | Ogema Public Library fine-free | 7.6 | 29 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Rib Lake | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Molitor | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Chelsea | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Jump River | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Grover | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Kennan | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Greenwood | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 Westboro
Does Westboro have a public library?
Yes. Westboro Public Library, N8855 2nd St., serves 804 people in and around Westboro (the survey’s count) and is open about 28 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Westboro 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 Westboro’s library?
It logged 8.1 visits and lent 15.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Westboro’s civic life grade?
Westboro 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 Westboro.
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.