Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Essex’s library lends 9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
T.O.H.P. Burnham Free Library serves Essex’s 3,668 residents. Last year it lent 33K print books and media and logged 2,699 visits.
The short version on Essex’s library
People borrow more than they stay
Borrowing per resident is higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 93%. People come in, pick up their books and go. How it compares ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Essex Town Hall and TOHP Burnham Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2007. Today’s library there has 1,200 square feet. The building ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 49% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 18 items per child in Essex last year. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
72% of the 175 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.7 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Essex is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns, #174 of 283 in Massachusetts. Essex’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
22 community nonprofits are registered in Essex
6.1 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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.2%
8.2% of Essex’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.9% in the typical Massachusetts 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 Essex’s residents live; 2022.
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 Essex last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
T.O.H.P. Burnham Free Library serves 3,668 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 22 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
33K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 16K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
A National Register landmark since 2007
T.O.H.P. Burnham Free Library, 30 Martin St., 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? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Essex Town Hall and TOHP Burnham Library
Essex Town Hall and TOHP Burnham Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Sep 12, 2007. It is significant for its politics, education and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Late Victorian and Shingle Style.
The Essex Town Hall and TOHP Burnham Library is an exuberant Shingle Style building at 30 Martin Street in Essex, Massachusetts in the United States. Containing town offices, a public library and an auditorium, it was built in 1893-1894, and its architect was Frank W. Weston, of Boston and Malden, Massachusetts. The new building was described in the March 1894 issue of The Library Journal:
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.04 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Essex cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $247K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $503K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $247K 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 1,804 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Essex ranks 4th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hamilton | Hamilton-Wenham Public Library fine-free | 16.5 | 47 | A+ |
| Manchester-by-the-Sea | Manchester-By-The-Sea Pub. Library fine-free | 10.9 | 41 | A+ |
| Ipswich | Ipswich Public Library fine-free | 10.5 | 52 | A |
| Essex | T.O.H.P. Burnham Free Library fine-free | 9.0 | 29 | B− |
| Gloucester | Gloucester Lyceum & Sawyer Free Lib fine-free | 3.6 | 49 | B |
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. T.O.H.P. Burnham Free Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- Digital loans not reported. Massachusetts libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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
Does Essex have a public library?
Yes. T.O.H.P. Burnham Free Library, 30 Martin St., serves Essex’s 3,668 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 29 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is T.O.H.P. Burnham Free 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 Essex’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 9.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Essex’s civic life grade?
B− Essex is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns on civic life, #174 of 283 in Massachusetts. 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 Essex.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.