Enfield Town Meetinghouse · Photo: Jerry Dougherty · CC BY 2.5Enfield’s library runs 12 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Enfield Public Library serves Enfield’s 40,792 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 200K books, movies and e-books and logged 95K visits.
What stands out about Enfield’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Enfield’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Enfield is ahead of 18% of U.S. towns, #142 of 155 in Connecticut. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($68K–$113K) 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 →
109 community nonprofits are registered in Enfield
2.7 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 (27 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.9%
5.9% of Enfield’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 Enfield’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Enfield Public Library serves 40,792 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 36 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
200K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 122K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.
37,330 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 Enfield last year.
2 places to borrow in Enfield
Enfield Public Library, 104 Middle Road, Enfield.
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 Enfield? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Enfield
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.67 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Enfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.9M 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 12,689 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Enfield ranks 5th of 8 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Longmeadow | Richard Salter Storrs Library fine-free | 9.3 | 56 | A |
| Suffield | Kent Memorial Library | 6.3 | 52 | B+ |
| Somers | Somers Public Library fine-free | 6.0 | 50 | B |
| Windsor Locks | Windsor Locks Public Library fine-free | 5.1 | 48 | C+ |
| Enfield | Enfield Public Library fine-free | 4.9 | 60 | C− |
| Hazardville | Enfield Public Library fine-free | 4.9 | 60 | — graded as part of its town |
| Thompsonville | Pearl Street Branch Library fine-free | 4.9 | 46 | — graded as part of its town |
| East Windsor | Library Association of Warehouse Point | 3.1 | 46 | B |
| Southwood Acres | None of its own | — | — | — 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 Enfield
Does Enfield have a public library?
Yes. Enfield Public Library, 104 Middle Road, serves Enfield’s 40,792 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Enfield 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 Enfield’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 4.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Enfield’s civic life grade?
C− Enfield is ahead of 18% of U.S. towns on civic life, #142 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 Enfield.
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.