Photo: Iracaz · CC BY-SA 3.0East Haven’s library logs 4.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Hagaman Memorial Library serves East Haven’s 27,533 residents. Last year it lent 68K books, movies and e-books and logged 112K visits.
What East Haven’s library is like
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 77% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 28%. The building also logs about 188 Wi-Fi sessions a day. A year at the library ↓
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 East Haven’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, East Haven is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns, #136 of 155 in Connecticut. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
East Haven’s 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($71K–$118K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
59 community nonprofits are registered in East Haven
2.1 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.1%
5.1% of East Haven’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 East Haven’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Hagaman Memorial Library serves 27,533 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 27 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
68K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 78K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
11,571 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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 East Haven last year.
Find it
Hagaman Memorial Library, 227 Main St., East Haven.
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 East Haven? 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 $1.34 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average East Haven cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $962K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $962K 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 5,823 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
East Haven ranks 5th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Haven | North Haven Memorial Library fine-free | 8.1 | 52 | B |
| North Branford | North Branford Library Department fine-free | 8.0 | 54 | B− |
| Northford | Edward Smith Library fine-free | 8.0 | 54 | — graded as part of its town |
| Branford | James Blackstone Memorial Library fine-free | 7.5 | 62 | B+ |
| East Haven | Hagaman Memorial Library fine-free | 2.5 | 48 | C− |
| New Haven | New Haven Free Public Library fine-free | 1.5 | 54 | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Hagaman Memorial Library 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 East Haven
Does East Haven have a public library?
Yes. Hagaman Memorial Library, 227 Main St., serves East Haven’s 27,533 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hagaman Memorial 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 East Haven’s library?
It logged 4.1 visits and lent 2.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is East Haven’s civic life grade?
C− East Haven is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns on civic life, #136 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 East Haven.
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.