Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 4.0Manchester’s library lends 10 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Manchester Public Library serves Manchester’s 59,408 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 689K books, movies and e-books and logged 203K visits.
What Manchester’s library is like
Manchester out-borrows every town next door
At 11.6 loans per resident, Manchester leads the six towns here. The closest is Glastonbury, at 11.0. Libraries next door ↓
Manchester is a town of borrowers
Manchester Public Library lends 10 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 90% of similar-size libraries. Each item on the shelves went out about 2.6 times last year. What people borrow ↓
Open about 66 hours a week
The main library is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 112 items go out. The buildings ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 44% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 87% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 22 items per child in Manchester last year. 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 Manchester’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Manchester is ahead of 31% of U.S. towns, #122 of 155 in Connecticut. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($65K–$109K) 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 →
186 community nonprofits are registered in Manchester
3.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (54 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 15 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.2%
6.2% of Manchester’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 Manchester’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
689K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 234K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.6 times last year, on average.
89,246 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 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Manchester Public Library serves 59,408 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 112 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 5 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 Manchester last year.
2 places to borrow in Manchester
Manchester Public Library, 586 Main St., Manchester.
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 Manchester? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Manchester
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.01 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Manchester cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.5M 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 18,104 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Manchester borrows the most per resident of the 6 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester | Manchester Public Library fine-free | 11.6 | 66 | C |
| Glastonbury | Welles-Turner Memorial Library fine-free | 11.0 | 64 | B− |
| South Windsor | South Windsor Public Library fine-free | 9.7 | 56 | C+ |
| Bolton | Bentley Memorial Library | 7.3 | 43 | B+ |
| Vernon | Rockville Public Library, Inc | 3.9 | 51 | C− |
| East Hartford | East Hartford Public Library fine-free | 1.7 | 55 | D |
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 Manchester
Does Manchester have a public library?
Yes. Manchester Public Library, 586 Main St., serves Manchester’s 59,408 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Manchester 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 Manchester’s library?
It logged 3.4 visits and lent 11.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Manchester’s civic life grade?
C Manchester is ahead of 31% of U.S. towns on civic life, #122 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 Manchester.
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.