Photo: Fletcher6 · CC BY-SA 3.0Lynnfield’s library logs 8.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Lynnfield Public Library serves Lynnfield’s 12,951 residents. Last year it lent 96K print books and media and logged 113K visits.
Lynnfield’s library, in brief
People come to Lynnfield Public Library a lot
Lynnfield Public Library logs 8.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 95% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 7.4 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Lynnfield Public Library ran 910 programs last year, about 18 a week. That’s 70 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Programs lean toward adults
78% of the 910 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 139 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Lynnfield invests in its library
Lynnfield Public Library spends $91 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (95%) comes from local taxes. 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 Lynnfield’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Lynnfield is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns, #116 of 283 in Massachusetts. Library visits hold 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 →
59 community nonprofits are registered in Lynnfield
4.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.9%
5.9% of Lynnfield’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 Lynnfield’s residents live; 2022.
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 Lynnfield last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Lynnfield Public Library serves 12,951 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
96K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 66K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Lynnfield Public Library, 18 Summer St., Lynnfield.
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 Lynnfield? 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 $1.27 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lynnfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M 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 6,210 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Lynnfield ranks 4th of 8 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | Reading Public Library fine-free | 13.6 | 59 | B |
| Wakefield | Lucius Beebe Memorial Library fine-free | 10.5 | 65 | B+ |
| Middleton | Flint Public Library fine-free | 7.9 | 46 | B− |
| Lynnfield | Lynnfield Public Library fine-free | 7.4 | 59 | B+ |
| North Reading | Flint Memorial Library fine-free | 6.7 | 47 | B− |
| 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− |
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. Lynnfield 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 Lynnfield
Does Lynnfield have a public library?
Yes. Lynnfield Public Library, 18 Summer St., serves Lynnfield’s 12,951 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 59 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lynnfield 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 Lynnfield’s library?
It logged 8.7 visits and lent 7.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Lynnfield’s civic life grade?
B+ Lynnfield is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns on civic life, #116 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 Lynnfield.
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.