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Library · Middleborough Center

Middleborough Public Library

Middleborough Public Library serves 24,376 people in and around Middleborough Center. Last year it lent 116K books, movies and e-books and logged 72K visits.

102 North Main St., Middleborough 02346 · about 51 hours a week
Photo: John Phelan
Borrowed a year
116K
4.8 per resident
Visits a year
72K
2.9 per resident · Below typical (3.1)
Programs & events
280
about 5 a week · 8,101 attended
Cardholders
40%
9,657 cards
Open
51 hrs
a week

What stands out about Middleborough Public Library

Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.54 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Middleborough Center cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
1
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$0
a year at retail prices · $0 a month

Who pays for it
$48 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.2M.

Local taxes 84%State 6%Gifts & other 10%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M 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 9,657 cardholders ÷ 12.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 44 items go out

Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.

72K
visits
2.9 per resident
116K
loans, print + digital
4.8 per resident
280
programs & events
8,101 attended
9,657
library cards
40% of people served
Every open hour44items borrowed
Every week156people at a program
Every day34Wi-Fi sessions
10 staff (full-time equivalent)9 public computers92K books & media on the shelves
How it compares

Close to typical for its size

Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S. A tiny town’s library always looks busier per person, so it’s only compared with its own size.

Visits per resident 2.9 visits · typical 3.1Lower than 52%
Borrowing per resident 4.8 print items · typical 3.9Higher than 60%
Kids’ borrowing 2.5 kids’ items · typical 1.8Higher than 66%
Program attendance 0.3 attendees · typical 0.4Lower than 62%
Programs offered 11.5 per 1,000 residents · typical 24Lower than 80%
Cardholders 40% of residents · typical 40%Lower than 51%
Spending $48 per resident · typical $43Higher than 56%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
In Massachusetts
#244 of 364

library systems for visits per resident.

Size group

Middleborough Public Library serves 24,376 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.

What people borrow

More than half the print loans are kids’ books

116K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.

116Kloans
Books & media (adults) 47%Kids’ books & media 53%
How hard the shelves work
1.3×

Each of the 92K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.

From your couch

Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

About 3 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.

Schools in Middleborough Center →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–595
Ages 6–1185
Teens14
Adults17
All ages69
Little ones
1.8

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

62K
kids’ books & media borrowed
8,101
people at programs
280
programs
The building

Find it

Middleborough Public Library, 102 North Main St., Middleborough.

51
hours open a week
25,000
square feet
92K
books & media
With a card

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 Middleborough Center? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

Next door

Libraries next door

Middleborough Center ranks 3rd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.

12+ loans per resident8–124–8Under 4No library / shared system
TownLibraryLoans per residentHours
North LakevilleLakeville Free Public Library6.440
LakevilleLakeville Free Public Library6.440
Middleborough CenterMiddleborough Public Library fine-free4.851
MiddleboroughMiddleborough Public Library fine-free4.851

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.

About these numbers

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • Hours are an average. The survey reports a building’s public hours for the whole year. We divide by the weeks it was open, so check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
  • Compared by size. “Similar-size” means libraries serving about as many people, nationwide. Per-resident numbers always flatter the smallest towns, so they’re never compared with big cities.
  • 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.

Book talk

Reading, story times and the library in Middleborough Center.

Town Square →
Weigh in
Is Middleborough Public Library one of the best things about Middleborough Center?

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Start a conversation

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.

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