Photo: Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger) · Public domainLynn’s library logs 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Lynn Public Library serves Lynn’s 100,891 residents. Last year it lent 65K print books and media and logged 123K visits.
What Lynn’s library is like
Lynn Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Lynn Public Library records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people. Borrowing is 0.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2. It also spends less than most: $15 per resident, against a typical $36. How it compares ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Lynn Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1979. Today’s library there has 34,000 square feet. The building ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Lynn Public Library offered 388 programs last year, 3.8 per 1,000 residents against a typical 9. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Lynn Public Library spends $15 per resident, less than 91% of similar-size libraries (typical: $36). 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 Lynn’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Lynn is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns, #278 of 283 in Massachusetts. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #360. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Lynn’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Lynn Public Library spends $15 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size, and its 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($56K–$94K) 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 →
195 community nonprofits are registered in Lynn
1.9 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 (89 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
2.7%
2.7% of Lynn’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 Lynn’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1979
Lynn Public Library, 5 North Common St., Lynn.
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 Lynn? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Lynn Public Library
Lynn Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Aug 21, 1979. It is significant for its town planning, education and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Renaissance Revival.
The Lynn Public Library building is a historic library at Five North Common Street in Lynn, Massachusetts. Although library services were offered in Lynn as early 1815, it was not until a bequest in 1896 that the city began planning a permanent home for the growing collection. After some controversy, library trustees chose a Renaissance Revival design by local architect George A.
More about the building →Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Lynn Public Library serves 100,891 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
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
65K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 72K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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 Lynn last year.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lynn cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $1.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.5M 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 20,264 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Lynn ranks 6th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swampscott | Swampscott Public Library fine-free | 10.4 | 54 | B |
| Lynnfield | Lynnfield Public Library fine-free | 7.4 | 59 | B+ |
| Nahant | Nahant Public Library fine-free | 4.7 | 37 | A− |
| Saugus | Saugus Public Library fine-free | 3.4 | 53 | D |
| Peabody | Peabody Institute Library fine-free | 3.0 | — | C |
| Lynn | Lynn Public Library fine-free | 0.6 | 56 | D− |
| Revere | Revere Public Library fine-free | 0.4 | 64 | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Lynn Public 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 Lynn
Does Lynn have a public library?
Yes. Lynn Public Library, 5 North Common St., serves Lynn’s 100,891 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lynn 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 Lynn’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 0.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Lynn’s civic life grade?
D− Lynn is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns on civic life, #278 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 Lynn.
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.