Photo: Andre Carrotflower · CC BY-SA 4.0Andover’s library lends 6.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Andover Public Library serves 8,700 people in and around Andover. Last year it lent 83K books, movies and e-books and logged 33K visits.
The short version on Andover’s library
Ohio pays a big share
54% of the budget comes from the state, and 32% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 2.6 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 86% of similar-size libraries. It’s 27% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
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; Andover Public Library serves 8,700 people in and around Andover, and its numbers cover all of them.
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 →
Mostly books and media off the shelf
83K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
22,670 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 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Andover Public Library serves 8,700 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 33 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Andover Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 2 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, 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
Andover Public Library, 142 W Main St., Andover.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Andover Public Library branch.
New in Andover? 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 $2.60 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Andover cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $517K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $517K 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 3,391 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Andover Public Library serves 8,700 people in and around Andover, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Andover.
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, 142 W Main St., serves 8,700 people in and around Andover (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Andover 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 Andover’s library?
It logged 3.8 visits and lent 9.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 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. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.