Photo: Juliejules · CC BY 3.0Old Saybrook’s library runs 93 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Acton Public Library serves Old Saybrook’s 10,571 residents. Last year it lent 132K books, movies and e-books and logged 79K visits.
The short version on Old Saybrook’s library
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Acton Public Library ran 983 programs last year, about 19 a week. That’s 93 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Old Saybrook uses its library more than almost any town its size
Acton Public Library logs 7.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 10 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 90% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Old Saybrook out-borrows every town next door
At 13 loans per resident, Old Saybrook leads the six towns here. The closest is Essex, at 9.7. Libraries next door ↓
Old Saybrook invests in its library
Acton Public Library spends $99 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (98%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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 Saybrook’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Old Saybrook is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns, #34 of 155 in Connecticut. Library visits hold 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 →
63 community nonprofits are registered in Old Saybrook
6.0 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. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.4%
6.4% of Old Saybrook’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 Saybrook’s residents live; 2022.
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 Old Saybrook last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Acton Public Library serves 10,571 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 46 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
132K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 68K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.6 times last year, on average.
25,838 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Acton Public Library, 60 Old Boston Post Rd., Old Saybrook.
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 Saybrook? 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 $2.14 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Old Saybrook cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M 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 4,350 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Old Saybrook borrows the most per resident of the 6 towns here. 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 | Essex Library Association fine-free | 9.7 | 53 | A |
| Essex Village | Essex Library Association fine-free | 9.7 | 53 | — graded as part of its town |
| Old Lyme | Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library fine-free | 9.4 | 53 | A− |
| Westbrook | Westbrook Public Library fine-free | 7.0 | 46 | B |
| Westbrook Center | Westbrook Public Library fine-free | 7.0 | 46 | — graded as part of its town |
| Saybrook Manor | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| 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.
- 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 Old Saybrook
Does Old Saybrook have a public library?
Yes. Acton Public Library, 60 Old Boston Post Rd., serves Old Saybrook’s 10,571 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Acton 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 Old Saybrook’s library?
It logged 7.5 visits and lent 12.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Old Saybrook’s civic life grade?
A− Old Saybrook is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns on civic life, #34 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 Saybrook.
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.