Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0Hampton’s library runs 179 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Fletcher Memorial Library serves Hampton’s 1,740 residents. Last year it lent 4,414 books, movies and e-books and logged 5,478 visits.
Hampton’s library, in brief
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
39% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 59%. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Fletcher Memorial Library serves 1,740 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
Fletcher Memorial Library keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Canterbury Public Library in Canterbury, next door, is open about 43 hours a week. The building ↓
Programs lean toward adults
70% of the 311 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 81 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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 Hampton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Hampton is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns. Hampton’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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Hampton
6.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: environment & animals.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.6%
8.6% of Hampton’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 Hampton’s residents live; 2022.
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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Hampton last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Fletcher Memorial Library serves 1,740 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
4,414 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 15K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
Find it
Fletcher Memorial Library, 257 Main St., Hampton.
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 $1.43 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hampton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $71K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $102K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $71K 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 1,020 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Hampton ranks 5th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canterbury | Canterbury Public Library fine-free | 4.8 | 43 | B− |
| Chaplin | Chaplin Public Library fine-free | 4.8 | 23 | A− |
| Scotland | Scotland Public Library fine-free | 4.7 | 18 | B− |
| Pomfret | Pomfret Public Library fine-free | 2.9 | 32 | B+ |
| Hampton | Fletcher Memorial Library fine-free | 2.5 | 20 | B+ |
| Brooklyn | Brooklyn Town Library Association fine-free | 1.6 | 33 | C− |
| Eastford | Eastford Public Library | — | — | 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.
- 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 Hampton
Does Hampton have a public library?
Yes. Fletcher Memorial Library, 257 Main St., serves Hampton’s 1,740 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fletcher Memorial Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Hampton’s library?
It logged 3.1 visits and lent 2.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Hampton’s civic life grade?
B+ Hampton is ahead of 72% 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 Hampton.
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.