Photo: Pi.1415926535 · CC BY-SA 3.0Ledyard’s library lends 5.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Ledyard Public Libraries serves Ledyard’s 15,459 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 106K books, movies and e-books and logged 42K visits.
What stands out about Ledyard’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Ledyard’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Ledyard is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns, #78 of 155 in Connecticut. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
55 community nonprofits are registered in Ledyard
3.6 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 (14 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.
10.4%
10.4% of Ledyard’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 Ledyard’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Ledyard Public Libraries serves 15,459 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 21 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
106K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 58K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.
27,657 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 Ledyard last year.
2 places to borrow in Ledyard
Ledyard Public Libraries, 718 Colonel Ledyard Highway, Ledyard.
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 Ledyard? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Ledyard
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.20 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ledyard cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $761K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $761K 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 4,012 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Ledyard ranks 4th of 8 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waterford | Waterford Public Library | 9.2 | 61 | B+ |
| North Stonington | Wheeler Library fine-free | 8.4 | 35 | B+ |
| Groton | Groton Public Library fine-free | 7.1 | 68 | B− |
| Ledyard | Ledyard Public Libraries fine-free | 6.9 | 51 | B |
| Gales Ferry | Gales Ferry Public Library fine-free | 6.9 | 45 | — graded as part of its town |
| Stonington | Stonington Free Library fine-free | 3.2 | 53 | B |
| Preston | Preston Public Library fine-free | 3.2 | 31 | B− |
| Montville | Raymond Library fine-free | 2.4 | 29 | C− |
| Conning Towers-Nautilus Park | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Oxoboxo River | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Old Mystic | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Ledyard Public Libraries 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 Ledyard
Does Ledyard have a public library?
Yes. Ledyard Public Libraries, 718 Colonel Ledyard Highway, serves Ledyard’s 15,459 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ledyard Public Libraries 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 Ledyard’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 6.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Ledyard’s civic life grade?
B Ledyard is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns on civic life, #78 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 Ledyard.
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.