David Lyman II House · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 3.0Middlefield’s library lends 5.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Levi E. Coe Library serves Middlefield’s 4,257 residents. Last year it lent 29K books, movies and e-books and logged 8,979 visits.
What stands out about Middlefield’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Middlefield’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Middlefield is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns, #38 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 →
27 community nonprofits are registered in Middlefield
6.4 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
11.8%
11.8% of Middlefield’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 Middlefield’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Levi E. Coe Library serves 4,257 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
29K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 19K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
5,433 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
About 3 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 Middlefield last year.
Find it
Levi E.Coe Library, 414 Main St., Middlefield.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting.
New in Middlefield? 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 $1.34 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Middlefield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $344K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $460K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $344K 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 1,078 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Middlefield ranks 2nd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Durham | Durham Public Library | 16.6 | 57 | A |
| Middlefield | Levi E.Coe Library fine-free | 6.7 | 34 | B+ |
| Middletown | Russell Library fine-free | 5.5 | 60 | B− |
| Meriden | Meriden Public Library fine-free | 2.1 | 53 | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Levi E. Coe Library 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 Middlefield
Does Middlefield have a public library?
Yes. Levi E. Coe Library, 414 Main St., serves Middlefield’s 4,257 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 34 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Levi E. Coe Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Middlefield’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 6.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Middlefield’s civic life grade?
B+ Middlefield is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns on civic life, #38 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 Middlefield.
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.