Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0Cheshire’s library logs 5.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Cheshire Public Library serves Cheshire’s 29,200 residents. Last year it lent 316K books, movies and e-books and logged 158K visits.
What Cheshire’s library is like
Cheshire uses its library more than almost any town its size
Cheshire Public Library logs 5.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 9.1 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 87% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Cheshire out-borrows every town next door
At 10.8 loans per resident, Cheshire leads the nine towns here. The closest is Wallingford, at 9.9. Libraries next door ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 48% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 87% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 20 items per child in Cheshire last year. 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.
What’s behind Cheshire’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Cheshire is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns, #49 of 155 in Connecticut. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
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 →
130 community nonprofits are registered in Cheshire
4.5 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 (19 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.7%
7.7% of Cheshire’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 Cheshire’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 103 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Cheshire Public Library serves 29,200 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
316K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 91K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.9 times last year, on average.
49,887 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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 Cheshire last year.
Find it
Cheshire Public Library, 104 Main St., Cheshire.
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 Cheshire? 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 $2.72 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cheshire cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.8M 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 9,855 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Cheshire borrows the most per resident of the 9 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheshire | Cheshire Public Library fine-free | 10.8 | 61 | B+ |
| Wallingford | Wallingford Public Library fine-free | 9.9 | 65 | B |
| Southington | Southington Public Library | 7.2 | 55 | C |
| Bethany | Clark Memorial Library fine-free | 6.9 | 37 | B |
| Hamden | Hamden Public Library fine-free | 5.2 | 51 | C |
| Wolcott | Wolcott Public Library | 3.5 | 49 | C |
| Prospect | Prospect Public Library | 3.0 | 43 | C+ |
| Meriden | Meriden Public Library fine-free | 2.1 | 53 | D |
| Waterbury | Silas Bronson Library | 1.1 | 56 | 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.
- 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 Cheshire
Does Cheshire have a public library?
Yes. Cheshire Public Library, 104 Main St., serves Cheshire’s 29,200 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cheshire 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 Cheshire’s library?
It logged 5.4 visits and lent 10.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Cheshire’s civic life grade?
B+ Cheshire is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns on civic life, #49 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 Cheshire.
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.