Old Grist Mill · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 3.0Lebanon’s library logs 0.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Martha Sawyer Community Library serves Lebanon’s 6,698 residents. Last year it lent 3,365 print books and media and logged 661 visits.
What Lebanon’s library is like
Martha Sawyer Community Library is used less than most libraries its size
Martha Sawyer Community Library records 0.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $3 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Every town next door borrows more
Lebanon’s library lends 0.5 items per resident. Each of the six neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by North Berwick at 5.3. Libraries next door ↓
Programs are almost all for children
85% of the 131 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
Martha Sawyer Community Library keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Rochester Public Library in Rochester, next door, is open about 54 hours a week. 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.
What’s behind Lebanon’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Lebanon is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Martha Sawyer Community Library spends $3 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($73K–$122K) 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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in Lebanon
1.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.8%
7.8% of Lebanon’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 Lebanon’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Martha Sawyer Community Library serves 6,698 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
3,365 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Lebanon’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 25K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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.
Find it
Martha Sawyer Community Library, 53 Upper Guinea Road, Lebanon.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Lebanon? 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 $2.92 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lebanon cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $22K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $64K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $22K 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 1,289 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Lebanon ranks 7th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Berwick | D.A. Hurd Library fine-free | 5.3 | 38 | B+ |
| Rochester | Rochester Public Library | 4.3 | 54 | C+ |
| Berwick | Berwick Public Library fine-free | 3.4 | 41 | B− |
| Sanford | Goodall Memorial Library fine-free | 2.3 | 54 | B+ |
| Milton | Milton Free Public Library fine-free | 1.4 | 25 | C− |
| Acton | Acton Public Library fine-free | 1.0 | 21 | C+ |
| Lebanon | Martha Sawyer Community Library fine-free | 0.5 | 20 | 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.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’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 Lebanon
Does Lebanon have a public library?
Yes. Martha Sawyer Community Library, 53 Upper Guinea Road, serves Lebanon’s 6,698 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Martha Sawyer Community 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 Lebanon’s library?
It logged 0.1 visits and lent 0.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Lebanon’s civic life grade?
D Lebanon is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Lebanon.
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.