Florence Griswold House and Museum · Photo: Pi.1415926535 · CC BY-SA 3.0Old Lyme’s library lends 6.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library serves Old Lyme’s 7,696 residents. Last year it lent 72K books, movies and e-books and logged 37K visits.
The short version on Old Lyme’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
55% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 44%. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
53% of the 431 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 95 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Old Lyme invests in its library
Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library spends $109 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 2.5 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 85% of similar-size libraries. It’s 27% of all loans. 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.
What’s behind Old Lyme’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Old Lyme is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns, #29 of 155 in Connecticut. Old Lyme’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
80 community nonprofits are registered in Old Lyme
10.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.0%
7.0% of Old 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 Old Lyme’s residents live; 2022.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.39 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Old Lyme cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $842K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $842K 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 3,773 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library serves 7,696 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 26 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
72K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 36K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 time last year, on average.
19,394 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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 Old Lyme last year.
Find it
Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library, 2 Library Lane, Old 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 Old Lyme? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Libraries next door
Old Lyme ranks 2nd of 4 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− |
| Old Lyme | Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library fine-free | 9.4 | 53 | A− |
| East Lyme | East Lyme Public Library fine-free | 8.9 | 57 | A |
| Lyme | Lyme Public Library fine-free | 7.9 | 60 | B |
| Old Saybrook Center | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Old Lyme
Does Old Lyme have a public library?
Yes. Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library, 2 Library Lane, serves Old Lyme’s 7,696 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Phoebe Griffin Noyes 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 Old Lyme’s library?
It logged 4.8 visits and lent 9.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Old Lyme’s civic life grade?
A− Old Lyme is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns on civic life, #29 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 Old 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.