Photo: Harrison Keely · CC BY 4.0Lewes’ library runs 68 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Lewes Public Library serves Lewes’s 26,989 residents. Last year it lent 318K books, movies and e-books and logged 174K visits.
Lewes’s library, in brief
Five times the programs of a typical library its size
Lewes Public Library ran 1,840 programs last year, about 35 a week. That’s 68 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. People show up: 35,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
48% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 39%. What your card is worth ↓
Lewes uses its library more than almost any town its size
Lewes Public Library logs 6.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 8.6 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 85% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
The shelves work hard
Each of the 54,000 items on the shelves went out about 4.3 times last year, on average. What people borrow ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.2 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 89% 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 Lewes’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lewes is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns, #1 of 22 in Delaware. Lewes is graded on two of the three inputs. Lewes’ 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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in Lewes
5.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (1 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.
7.5%
7.5% of Lewes’ Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.6% in the typical Delaware 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 Lewes’ residents live; 2022.
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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Lewes last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Lewes Public Library serves 26,989 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 125 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
318K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 54K books and other items on the shelves went out about 4.3 times last year, on average.
85,236 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Lewes Public Library, 111 Adams Avenue, Lewes.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Lewes? 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 $5.22 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lewes cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 21,385 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Lewes
Does Lewes have a public library?
Yes. Lewes Public Library, 111 Adams Avenue, serves Lewes’ 26,989 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lewes Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Lewes’ library?
It logged 6.4 visits and lent 11.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Lewes’ civic life grade?
B+ Lewes is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns on civic life, #1 of 22 in Delaware. 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 Lewes.
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.