Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 4.0Deep River Center’s library logs 4.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Deep River Public Library serves 4,454 people in and around Deep River Center. Last year it lent 21K books, movies and e-books and logged 19K visits.
What Deep River Center’s library is like
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Deep River Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Four of the five libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Deep River Public Library serves more than Deep River Center
The library’s service area covers 4,454 people in and around Deep River Center, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
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 Deep River Center’s civic life grade
Deep River Center isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
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.
Deep River Public Library serves 4,454 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
21K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 24K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
5,884 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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.
Find it
Deep River Public Library, 150 Main St., Deep River.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Deep River Center? 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 $1.20 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Deep River Center cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $290K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $348K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $290K 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 1,591 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Deep River Center ranks 3rd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essex | Essex Library Association fine-free | 9.7 | 53 | A |
| Lyme | Lyme Public Library fine-free | 7.9 | 60 | B |
| Deep River Center | Deep River Public Library | 4.7 | 42 | — graded as part of its town |
| Deep River | Deep River Public Library | 4.7 | 42 | A− |
| Chester | Chester Public Library fine-free | 3.8 | 42 | B− |
| Chester Center | Chester Public Library fine-free | 3.8 | 42 | — graded as part of its town |
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 Deep River Center
Does Deep River Center have a public library?
Yes. Deep River Public Library, 150 Main St., serves 4,454 people in and around Deep River Center (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Deep River Public 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 Deep River Center’s library?
It logged 4.3 visits and lent 4.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Deep River Center’s civic life grade?
Deep River Center isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Deep River Center.
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.