Photo: Jeff Bellinger · CC BY-SA 3.0Clinton’s library runs 107 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Henry Carter Hull Library serves Clinton’s 13,402 residents. Last year it lent 107K books, movies and e-books and logged 83K visits.
What stands out about Clinton’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Clinton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Clinton is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns, #58 of 155 in Connecticut. Library visits hold 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 →
62 community nonprofits are registered in Clinton
4.6 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 (6 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.
6.7%
6.7% of Clinton’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 Clinton’s residents live; 2022.
About 11 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 Clinton last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Henry Carter Hull Library serves 13,402 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 35 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
107K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 65K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 time last year, on average.
10,842 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Henry Carter Hull Library, 10 Killingworth Turnpike, Clinton.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Clinton? 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 $1.87 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Clinton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M 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 5,898 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Clinton ranks 2nd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madison | E.C. Scranton Memorial Library fine-free | 10.5 | 57 | A− |
| Clinton | Henry Carter Hull Library fine-free | 8.0 | 58 | B+ |
| Westbrook | Westbrook Public Library fine-free | 7.0 | 46 | B |
| Killingworth | Killingworth Library fine-free | 6.9 | 49 | B+ |
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 Clinton
Does Clinton have a public library?
Yes. Henry Carter Hull Library, 10 Killingworth Turnpike, serves Clinton’s 13,402 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Henry Carter Hull 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 Clinton’s library?
It logged 6.2 visits and lent 8.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Clinton’s civic life grade?
B+ Clinton is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns on civic life, #58 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 Clinton.
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.