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Library · Whitinsville

Whitinsville Social Library

Whitinsville Social Library serves 16,337 people in and around Whitinsville. Last year it lent 86K books, movies and e-books and logged 25K visits.

17 Church St., Whitinsville 01588 · about 48 hours a week
Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel
Borrowed a year
86K
5.3 per resident
Visits a year
25K
1.5 per resident · Below typical (3.1)
Programs & events
534
about 10 a week · 2,302 attended
Cardholders
35%
5,718 cards
Open
48 hrs
a week

What stands out about Whitinsville Social 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 $3.14 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Whitinsville 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
$26 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $422K.

Local taxes 64%State 10%Gifts & other 26%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $422K 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 5,718 cardholders ÷ 12.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 35 items go out

Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.

25K
visits
1.5 per resident
86K
loans, print + digital
5.3 per resident
534
programs & events
2,302 attended
5,718
library cards
35% of people served
Every open hour35items borrowed
Every week44people at a program
Every day41Wi-Fi sessions
4 staff (full-time equivalent)3 public computers57K 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 1.5 visits · typical 3.1Lower than 78%
Borrowing per resident 5.3 print items · typical 3.9Higher than 65%
Kids’ borrowing 2.5 kids’ items · typical 1.8Higher than 65%
Program attendance 0.1 attendees · typical 0.4Lower than 87%
Programs offered 32.7 per 1,000 residents · typical 24Higher than 68%
Cardholders 35% of residents · typical 40%Lower than 59%
Spending $26 per resident · typical $43Lower than 76%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
In Massachusetts
#316 of 364

library systems for visits per resident.

Size group

Whitinsville Social Library serves 16,337 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.

What people borrow

Almost half the print loans are kids’ books

86K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

86Kloans
Books & media (adults) 52%Kids’ books & media 48%E-books, audio & streaming 0%
How hard the shelves work
1.5×

Each of the 57K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 times last year, on average.

From your couch

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

Kids & programs

About 5 kids’ programs a week

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

Schools in Whitinsville →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–5218
Ages 6–1118
Teens34
Adults46
All ages218
Little ones
4.2

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

41K
kids’ books & media borrowed
2,302
people at programs
534
programs
The building

Find it

Whitinsville Social Library, 17 Church St., Whitinsville.

48
hours open a week
14,500
square feet
57K
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 Whitinsville? The Handbook →

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

Next door

Libraries next door

Whitinsville ranks 2nd 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
SuttonSutton Free Public Library fine-free5.448
WhitinsvilleWhitinsville Social Library fine-free5.348
NorthbridgeWhitinsville Social Library fine-free5.348
UxbridgeUxbridge Free Public Library fine-free4.137

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 Whitinsville.

Town Square →
Weigh in
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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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