Photo: Joe Mabel · CC BY-SA 3.0Cornwall’s library logs 13 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Cornwall Library Association serves Cornwall’s 1,575 residents. Last year it lent 12K books, movies and e-books and logged 21K visits.
Cornwall’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
76% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 24%. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Cornwall Library Association serves 1,575 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 32 hours a week. 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 ↓
People come to Cornwall Library Association a lot
Cornwall Library Association logs 13 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 94% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 6.1 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Programs draw a crowd
6,257 people came to the library’s 246 programs last year: 4 per resident, against a typical 0.7, more than at 96% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Cornwall invests in its library
Cornwall Library Association spends $143 per resident a year, about twice the typical $54 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
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 Cornwall’s civic life grade
On library visits and community nonprofits, Cornwall is among the top 1% of U.S. towns. Cornwall is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs put Cornwall near the top nationally; Cornwall’s count of community nonprofits ranks 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 →
24 community nonprofits are registered in Cornwall
16.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
About 3 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 Cornwall last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Cornwall Library Association serves 1,575 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
12K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 30K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
1,991 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
Find it
Cornwall Library Association, 30 Pine St., Cornwall.
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 $1.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cornwall cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $225K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $239K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $225K 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 1,313 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Cornwall ranks 2nd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canaan | David M. Hunt Library fine-free | 9.1 | 27 | A+ |
| Cornwall | Cornwall Library Association fine-free | 7.3 | 32 | A+ |
| Kent | Kent Library Association fine-free | 6.8 | 45 | A+ |
| Goshen | Goshen Public Library fine-free | 6.6 | 47 | B+ |
| Sharon | Hotchkiss Library of Sharon fine-free | 5.0 | 40 | A |
| Warren | Warren Public Library fine-free | 4.9 | 27 | A− |
| West Cornwall | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Cornwall Bridge | 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. Cornwall Library Association 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 Cornwall
Does Cornwall have a public library?
Yes. Cornwall Library Association, 30 Pine St., serves Cornwall’s 1,575 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 32 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cornwall Library Association fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Cornwall’s library?
It logged 13.4 visits and lent 7.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Cornwall’s civic life grade?
A+ Cornwall is among the top 1% 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 Cornwall.
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.