Andover Hook and Ladder Company Building · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 3.0Andover’s library runs 3.3 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Andover Public Library serves Andover’s 899 residents. Last year it lent 2,523 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,203 visits.
The short version on Andover’s library
More library cards than residents
1,033 cards for 899 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Andover Public Library offered 3 programs last year, 3.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
Open only about 16 hours a week
Andover Public Library keeps short hours: about 16 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Andover Public Library serves 899 residents with about one full-time staff. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Andover Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1981. Today’s library there has 1,300 square feet. The building ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Andover’s civic life grade
Andover isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Andover Public Library serves 899 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
2,523 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 15K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
394 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
3 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
A National Register landmark since 1981
Andover Public Library, 46 Church Street, Andover.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Andover? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Andover Public Library
Andover Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jan 27, 1981. It is significant for its education and architecture at the local level.
The Andover Public Library is located on Church Street in Andover, Maine, United States. Although a private library funded by subscription was founded in the town in 1795, it was not until the establishment of the Andover Public Library Association in 1891 that movement to a publicly funded library began.
More about the building →What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Andover cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $45K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $40K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $45K 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 1,033 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
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 Andover
Does Andover have a public library?
Yes. Andover Public Library, 46 Church Street, serves Andover’s 899 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 16 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Andover Public 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 Andover’s library?
It logged 2.5 visits and lent 2.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Andover’s civic life grade?
Andover isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Andover.
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.