Photo: Joe Mabel (on Flickr as Joe Mabel from Seattle, US) · CC BY-SA 3.0Essex Village’s library runs 89 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Essex Library Association serves 6,802 people in and around Essex Village. Last year it lent 66K books, movies and e-books and logged 47K visits.
Essex Village’s library, in brief
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
27% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 57%. What your card is worth ↓
Essex Library Association serves more than Essex Village
The library’s service area covers 6,802 people in and around Essex Village, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
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.
What’s behind Essex Village’s civic life grade
Essex Village 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 5 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 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Essex Library Association serves 6,802 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 24 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
66K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 35K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.4 time last year, on average.
15,077 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Essex Library Association, 33 West Ave., Essex.
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 Essex Village? 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 $2.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Essex Village cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $537K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $537K 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 2,427 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Essex Village ranks 2nd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old Saybrook | Acton Public Library fine-free | 12.5 | 55 | A− |
| Essex Village | Essex Library Association fine-free | 9.7 | 53 | — graded as part of its town |
| Essex | Essex Library Association fine-free | 9.7 | 53 | A |
| Lyme | Lyme Public Library fine-free | 7.9 | 60 | B |
| Deep River | Deep River Public Library | 4.7 | 42 | A− |
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 Essex Village
Does Essex Village have a public library?
Yes. Essex Library Association, 33 West Ave., serves 6,802 people in and around Essex Village (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Essex Library Association 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 Essex Village’s library?
It logged 6.9 visits and lent 9.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Essex Village’s civic life grade?
Essex Village 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 Essex Village.
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.