Photo: Ferrantep2 · Public domainBethany’s library runs 92 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Clark Memorial Library serves Bethany’s 5,271 residents. Last year it lent 36K books, movies and e-books and logged 9,108 visits.
What Bethany’s library is like
Programs are almost all for children
90% of the 483 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 4.2 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 58% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 74% of similar-size libraries. 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.
What’s behind Bethany’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Bethany is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns, #80 of 155 in Connecticut. Bethany’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
37 community nonprofits are registered in Bethany
7.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.1%
8.1% of Bethany’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.5% in the typical Connecticut 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 Bethany’s residents live; 2022.
About 8 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Bethany last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Clark Memorial Library serves 5,271 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
36K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 32K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
10,848 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Clark Memorial Library, 538 Amity Rd., Bethany.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Bethany? 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 $1.54 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bethany cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $360K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $555K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $360K 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 1,749 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Bethany ranks 3rd of 8 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woodbridge | Woodbridge Town Library fine-free | 17.1 | 51 | A |
| Cheshire | Cheshire Public Library fine-free | 10.8 | 61 | B+ |
| Bethany | Clark Memorial Library fine-free | 6.9 | 37 | B |
| Hamden | Hamden Public Library fine-free | 5.2 | 51 | C |
| Seymour | Seymour Public Library fine-free | 3.4 | 41 | C |
| Beacon Falls | Beacon Falls Public Library fine-free | 3.1 | 42 | C− |
| Prospect | Prospect Public Library | 3.0 | 43 | C+ |
| Naugatuck | Howard Whittemore Memorial Library fine-free | 1.8 | 40 | C+ |
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. Clark Memorial Library 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 Bethany
Does Bethany have a public library?
Yes. Clark Memorial Library, 538 Amity Rd., serves Bethany’s 5,271 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Clark Memorial 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 Bethany’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 6.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Bethany’s civic life grade?
B Bethany is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns on civic life, #80 of 155 in Connecticut. 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 Bethany.
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.