Lincoln School · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Acton’s library lends 1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Acton Public Library serves Acton’s 2,719 residents. Last year it lent 2,685 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,881 visits.
The short version on Acton’s library
Acton Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Acton Public Library records 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $13 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Open only about 21 hours a week
Acton Public Library keeps short hours: about 21 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 14% of the people Acton Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Acton Public Library spends $13 per resident, less than 93% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). 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 Acton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Acton is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns, #104 of 143 in Maine. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
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 →
9 community nonprofits are registered in Acton
3.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
12.0%
12.0% of Acton’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.0% in the typical Maine 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 Acton’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Acton Public Library serves 2,719 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
2,685 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 6,617 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
47 programs a year
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 Acton last year.
Find it
Acton Public Library, 35 H Road, Acton.
No late fees. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Acton? 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 $1.29 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Acton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $35K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $45K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $35K 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 376 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Acton ranks 5th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wakefield | Gafney Library fine-free | 4.2 | 27 | B− |
| Milton | Milton Free Public Library fine-free | 1.4 | 25 | C− |
| Milton Mills | Milton Free Public Library fine-free | 1.4 | 25 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Shapleigh | Shapleigh Community Library fine-free | 1.3 | 16 | C− |
| Acton | Acton Public Library fine-free | 1.0 | 21 | C+ |
| Lebanon | Martha Sawyer Community Library fine-free | 0.5 | 20 | D |
| Newfield | None of its own | — | — | A |
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Acton
Does Acton have a public library?
Yes. Acton Public Library, 35 H Road, serves Acton’s 2,719 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 21 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Acton Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Acton’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 1.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Acton’s civic life grade?
C+ Acton is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns on civic life, #104 of 143 in Maine. 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 Acton.
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.