Photo: Alex756 · CC BY-SA 3.0East Lyme’s library lends 6.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
East Lyme Public Library serves East Lyme’s 18,929 residents. Last year it lent 168K books, movies and e-books and logged 78K visits.
What stands out about East Lyme’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind East Lyme’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, East Lyme is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns, #21 of 155 in Connecticut. All three 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 →
108 community nonprofits are registered in East Lyme
5.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.8%
10.8% of East Lyme’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.5% in the typical Connecticut 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 East Lyme’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
East Lyme Public Library serves 18,929 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 57 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
168K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 117K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
42,414 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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 East Lyme last year.
Find it
East Lyme Public Library, 39 Society Road, East Lyme.
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 East Lyme? 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 $2.21 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average East Lyme cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.7M 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 5,763 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
East Lyme ranks 3rd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old Lyme | Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library fine-free | 9.4 | 53 | A− |
| Waterford | Waterford Public Library | 9.2 | 61 | B+ |
| East Lyme | East Lyme Public Library fine-free | 8.9 | 57 | A |
| Lyme | Lyme Public Library fine-free | 7.9 | 60 | B |
| Salem | Salem Free Public Library | — | 40 | B+ |
| Niantic | 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 East Lyme
Does East Lyme have a public library?
Yes. East Lyme Public Library, 39 Society Road, serves East Lyme’s 18,929 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is East Lyme 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 East Lyme’s library?
It logged 4.1 visits and lent 8.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is East Lyme’s civic life grade?
A East Lyme is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns on civic life, #21 of 155 in Connecticut. 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 East Lyme.
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.