Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Lowell’s library lends 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Samuel S. Pollard Memorial Library serves Lowell’s 113,608 residents. Last year it lent 106K print books and media and logged 106K visits.
Lowell’s library, in brief
Samuel S. Pollard Memorial Library is used less than most libraries its size
Samuel S. Pollard Memorial Library records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people. Borrowing is 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2. It also spends less than most: $17 per resident, against a typical $36. How it compares ↓
Every town next door borrows more
Lowell’s library lends 0.9 items per resident. Each of the four neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Chelmsford at 11. Libraries next door ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Samuel S. Pollard Memorial Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Three of the four libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 19% of the people Samuel S. Pollard Memorial Library serves have a library card, against a typical 41% for its size. How it compares ↓
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 Lowell’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Lowell is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns, #274 of 283 in Massachusetts. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #296. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Samuel S. Pollard Memorial Library spends $17 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($59K–$98K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
255 community nonprofits are registered in Lowell
2.2 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 (82 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 20 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.5%
6.5% of Lowell’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 Lowell’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Samuel S. Pollard Memorial Library serves 113,608 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 33 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
106K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 160K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time 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 Lowell last year.
Find it
Samuel S. Pollard Memorial Library, 401 Merrimack St., Lowell.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Lowell? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lowell cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $1.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.9M 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 21,502 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Lowell ranks 5th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chelmsford | Chelmsford Public Library fine-free | 10.9 | 72 | A− |
| Tewksbury | Tewksbury Public Library fine-free | 6.1 | 53 | C− |
| Tyngsborough | Tyngsborough Public Library fine-free | 5.9 | 37 | B− |
| Dracut | Moses Greeley Parker Memorial Lib. | 4.2 | 55 | C |
| Lowell | Samuel S. Pollard Memorial Library | 0.9 | 62 | D |
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 Lowell
Does Lowell have a public library?
Yes. Samuel S. Pollard Memorial Library, 401 Merrimack St., serves Lowell’s 113,608 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Samuel S. Pollard Memorial 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 Lowell’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 0.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Lowell’s civic life grade?
D Lowell is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns on civic life, #274 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 Lowell.
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.