Photo: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY-SA 4.0Lunenburg’s library logs 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Alden Balch Memorial serves Lunenburg’s 1,403 residents. Last year it logged 1,100 visits.
The short version on Lunenburg’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
57% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 42%. What your card is worth ↓
Open only about 18 hours a week
Alden Balch Memorial keeps short hours: about 18 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. William D. Weeks Memorial Library in Lancaster, next door, is open about 34 hours a week. The building ↓
A small-town library
Alden Balch Memorial serves 1,403 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 ↓
Most programs are for young children
79% of the 71 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 14 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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 Lunenburg’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Lunenburg is ahead of 26% of U.S. towns. Lunenburg’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($40K–$66K) 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Lunenburg
5.0 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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.3%
6.3% of Lunenburg’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.5% in the typical Vermont 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 Lunenburg’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 5 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Alden Balch Memorial serves 1,403 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Alden Balch Memorial
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 1 kids’ program 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
Alden Balch Memorial, 24 E. Main St., Lunenburg.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Lunenburg? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lunenburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $32K.
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 500 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.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lancaster | William D. Weeks Memorial Library fine-free | 8.6 | 34 | B+ |
| Dalton | Dalton Public Library fine-free | 1.9 | 10 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Lunenburg | Alden Balch Memorial fine-free | — | 18 | C |
| Concord | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Gilman | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Guildhall | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Victory | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Alden Balch Memorial counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Lunenburg
Does Lunenburg have a public library?
Yes. Alden Balch Memorial, 24 E. Main St., serves Lunenburg’s 1,403 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 18 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Alden Balch Memorial 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 Lunenburg’s library?
It logged 0.8 visits per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Lunenburg’s civic life grade?
C Lunenburg is ahead of 26% 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 Lunenburg.
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.