Photo: Thundersnow · CC BY-SA 3.0Colchester’s library logs 6.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Cragin Memorial Library serves Colchester’s 15,504 residents. Last year it lent 144K books, movies and e-books and logged 106K visits.
Colchester’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 55% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 87% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 21 items per child in Colchester last year. Kids & programs ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Cragin Memorial Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Four of the six libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
People come to Cragin Memorial Library a lot
Cragin Memorial Library logs 6.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 90% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 8.2 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
66% of the 475 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 4.7 a week 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.
What’s behind Colchester’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Colchester is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns, #55 of 155 in Connecticut. Library visits hold the grade up; Colchester’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
52 community nonprofits are registered in Colchester
3.3 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.3%
8.3% of Colchester’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 Colchester’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 56 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Cragin Memorial Library serves 15,504 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
144K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 82K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 times last year, on average.
16,631 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 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 Colchester last year.
Find it
Cragin Memorial Library, 8 Linwood Avenue, Colchester.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Colchester? 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 $2.22 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Colchester cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 4,400 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Colchester ranks 2nd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marlborough | Richmond Memorial Library fine-free | 12.8 | 49 | B+ |
| Colchester | Cragin Memorial Library | 9.3 | 49 | B+ |
| East Hampton | East Hampton Public Library fine-free | 8.2 | 49 | A− |
| Lebanon | Jonathan Trumbull Library fine-free | 8.1 | 42 | B |
| Hebron | Douglas Library of Hebron | 7.7 | 45 | B+ |
| East Haddam | East Haddam Free Public Library fine-free | 6.6 | 44 | A+ |
| Salem | Salem Free Public Library | — | 40 | 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 Colchester
Does Colchester have a public library?
Yes. Cragin Memorial Library, 8 Linwood Avenue, serves Colchester’s 15,504 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cragin Memorial Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Colchester’s library?
It logged 6.8 visits and lent 9.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Colchester’s civic life grade?
B+ Colchester is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns on civic life, #55 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 Colchester.
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.