Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0Easton’s library lends 6.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Easton Public Library serves Easton’s 7,636 residents. Last year it lent 59K books, movies and e-books and logged 23K visits.
Easton’s library, in brief
Every town next door borrows more
Easton’s library lends 7.7 items per resident. Each of the five neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Fairfield at 11. Libraries next door ↓
Most programs are for young children
73% of the 310 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 3.9 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A place to get online
Easton Public Library logs about 139 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 7 public computers. That’s 6.6 sessions per resident a year. 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 Easton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Easton is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns, #47 of 155 in Connecticut. Easton’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
44 community nonprofits are registered in Easton
5.7 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.0%
9.0% of Easton’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 Easton’s residents live; 2022.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.64 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Easton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $649K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $649K 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 2,918 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Easton Public Library serves 7,636 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 25 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
59K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 55K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
11,369 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 Easton last year.
Find it
Easton Public Library, 691 Morehouse Rd., Easton.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Easton? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Libraries next door
Easton ranks 6th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfield | Fairfield Public Library | 11.0 | 56 | A− |
| Redding | Mark Twain Library fine-free | 10.5 | 51 | A |
| Trumbull | Trumbull Library | 8.9 | 60 | B+ |
| Weston | Weston Public Library | 8.4 | 52 | A+ |
| Monroe | Edith Wheeler Memorial Library | 7.7 | 43 | B− |
| Easton | Easton Public Library fine-free | 7.7 | 45 | B+ |
| Stepney | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Tashua | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Plattsville | 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.
- 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 Easton
Does Easton have a public library?
Yes. Easton Public Library, 691 Morehouse Rd., serves Easton’s 7,636 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Easton Public 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 Easton’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 7.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Easton’s civic life grade?
B+ Easton is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns on civic life, #47 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 Easton.
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.