Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Gloucester’s library logs 2.2 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Gloucester Lyceum & Sawyer Free Lib serves Gloucester’s 29,836 residents. Last year it lent 107K print books and media and logged 67K visits.
Gloucester’s library, in brief
Every town next door borrows more
Gloucester’s library lends 3.6 items per resident. Each of the four neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Rockport at 11. Libraries next door ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
27% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 70%. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
52% of the 389 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 148 were for children. 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 Gloucester’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Gloucester is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns, #145 of 283 in Massachusetts. Gloucester’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 →
172 community nonprofits are registered in Gloucester
5.7 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 (19 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.1%
8.1% of Gloucester’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 Gloucester’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Gloucester Lyceum & Sawyer Free Lib serves 29,836 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 42 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
107K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 68K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.6 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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 Gloucester last year.
Find it
Gloucester Lyceum & Sawyer Free Lib, 2 Dale Ave., Gloucester.
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 Gloucester? 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 $1.04 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Gloucester cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.6M 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 13,398 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Gloucester ranks 5th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rockport | Rockport Public Library fine-free | 10.9 | 48 | 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.
- 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 Gloucester
Does Gloucester have a public library?
Yes. Gloucester Lyceum & Sawyer Free Lib, 2 Dale Ave., serves Gloucester’s 29,836 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Gloucester Lyceum & Sawyer Free Lib 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 Gloucester’s library?
It logged 2.2 visits and lent 3.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Gloucester’s civic life grade?
B Gloucester is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns on civic life, #145 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 Gloucester.
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.