Photo: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY-SA 4.0Lyme’s library lends 14 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Converse Free Library serves Lyme’s 1,742 residents. Last year it lent 44K books, movies and e-books and logged 14K visits.
Lyme’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 60% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 44 items per child in Lyme last year. Kids & programs ↓
Lyme out-borrows every town next door
At 25 loans per resident, Lyme leads the five towns here. The closest is Hanover, at 19. Libraries next door ↓
Lyme is a town of borrowers
Converse Free Library lends 14 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 94% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
45% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 45% of loans, more per resident than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 55%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
A small-town library
Converse Free Library serves 1,742 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 35 hours a week. 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 ↓
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 Lyme’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Lyme is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns. Lyme’s count of community nonprofits holds 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 →
21 community nonprofits are registered in Lyme
12.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: environment & animals.
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.
6.8%
6.8% of Lyme’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.9% in the typical New Hampshire 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 Lyme’s residents live; 2022.
45% of borrowing is digital
44K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 38K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
19,870 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Converse Free Library serves 1,742 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 25 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
189 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 Lyme last year.
Find it
Converse Free Library, 38 Union Street, Lyme.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Lyme? 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 $2.69 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lyme cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $248K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $666K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $248K 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 1,110 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Lyme borrows the most per resident of the 5 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lyme | Converse Free Library fine-free | 25.4 | 35 | A |
| Hanover | Howe Library fine-free | 18.8 | 54 | A |
| Norwich | Norwich Public fine-free | 17.7 | 42 | A+ |
| Thetford | Latham Memorial fine-free | 11.0 | 30 | A |
| Orford | Orford Free Library fine-free | 3.8 | 14 | A |
| Dorchester | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 Lyme
Does Lyme have a public library?
Yes. Converse Free Library, 38 Union Street, serves Lyme’s 1,742 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Converse Free 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 Lyme’s library?
It logged 8.2 visits and lent 25.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Lyme’s civic life grade?
A Lyme is ahead of 86% 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 Lyme.
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.