Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Mystic’s library lends 1.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Mystic & Noank Library serves 37,878 people in and around Mystic. Last year it lent 59K books, movies and e-books and logged 84K visits.
Mystic’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
73% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 27%. What your card is worth ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 16% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
53% of the 586 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 273 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
People visit, but borrow less than most
Mystic & Noank Library lends 1.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, fewer than 88% of similar-size libraries, though visits are closer to typical. What people borrow ↓
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; Mystic & Noank Library serves 37,878 people in and around Mystic, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Mystic’s civic life grade
Mystic 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Mystic & Noank Library serves 37,878 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 24 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mystic & Noank Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
59K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
18,761 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Mystic & Noank Library, 40 Library St., Groton.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Mystic & Noank Library branch.
New in Mystic? 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 $1.09 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mystic cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $946K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $946K 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 6,091 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Groton | Groton Public Library fine-free | 7.1 | 68 | B− |
| Stonington | Stonington Free Library fine-free | 3.2 | 53 | B |
| Mystic | Mystic & Noank Library fine-free | — | 48 | — 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.
- System-wide. Mystic & Noank Library serves 37,878 people in and around Mystic, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Mystic.
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 Mystic
Does Mystic have a public library?
Yes. Mystic & Noank Library, 40 Library St., serves 37,878 people in and around Mystic (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mystic & Noank 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 Mystic’s library?
It logged 2.2 visits and lent 1.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Mystic’s civic life grade?
Mystic 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 Mystic.
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.