Photo: Joe Mabel (on Flickr as Joe Mabel from Seattle, US) · CC BY-SA 3.0Litchfield’s library lends 13 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Oliver Wolcott Library serves 8,293 people in and around Litchfield. Last year it lent 124K books, movies and e-books and logged 42K visits.
Litchfield’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
61% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 38%. What your card is worth ↓
Top 10% in Connecticut for borrowing
Litchfield ranks #7 of 123 Connecticut towns with a library of their own for items borrowed per resident. Print borrowing alone runs 13 items per resident, more than at 96% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
Litchfield invests in its library
Oliver Wolcott Library spends $128 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
Oliver Wolcott Library serves more than Litchfield
The library’s service area covers 8,293 people in and around Litchfield, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
54% of the 465 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 200 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.
What’s behind Litchfield’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Litchfield is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns. Litchfield is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Litchfield’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in Litchfield
13.3 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.8%
10.8% of Litchfield’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 Litchfield’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
124K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 91K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
17,561 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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.
Oliver Wolcott Library serves 8,293 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 50 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
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.
Find it
Oliver Wolcott Library, 160 South St., Litchfield.
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 Litchfield? 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 $1.87 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Litchfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.1M 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 3,288 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Litchfield
Does Litchfield have a public library?
Yes. Oliver Wolcott Library, 160 South St., serves 8,293 people in and around Litchfield (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Oliver Wolcott 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 Litchfield’s library?
It logged 5.0 visits and lent 14.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Litchfield’s civic life grade?
A+ Litchfield is ahead of 98% 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 Litchfield.
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.