Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0Merrimac’s library lends 6.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Merrimac Public Library serves Merrimac’s 6,699 residents. Last year it lent 41K print books and media and logged 31K visits.
What stands out about Merrimac’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Merrimac’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Merrimac is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns, #177 of 283 in Massachusetts. Library visits hold the grade up; Merrimac’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Merrimac
2.4 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.8%
7.8% of Merrimac’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 Merrimac’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Merrimac Public Library serves 6,699 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 21 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
41K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 50K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 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 Merrimac last year.
Find it
Merrimac Public Library, 86 West Main St., Merrimac.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Merrimac? 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 $1.73 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Merrimac cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $371K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $641K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $371K 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 3,244 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Merrimac ranks 3rd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Newbury | G. A. R. Memorial Library fine-free | 15.2 | 42 | A |
| Amesbury | Amesbury Public Library fine-free | 7.2 | 49 | D− |
| Merrimac | Merrimac Public Library fine-free | 6.1 | 37 | C+ |
| Newton | Gale Library fine-free | 3.4 | 28 | C |
| Haverhill | Haverhill Public Library fine-free | 3.0 | 61 | C− |
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. Merrimac 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 Merrimac
Does Merrimac have a public library?
Yes. Merrimac Public Library, 86 West Main St., serves Merrimac’s 6,699 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Merrimac 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 Merrimac’s library?
It logged 4.6 visits and lent 6.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Merrimac’s civic life grade?
C+ Merrimac is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns on civic life, #177 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 Merrimac.
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.