Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 4.0Naugatuck’s library runs 17 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Howard Whittemore Memorial Library serves 31,820 people in and around Naugatuck. Last year it lent 57K books, movies and e-books and logged 81K visits.
Naugatuck’s library, in brief
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
30% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 70%. What your card is worth ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 18% of the people Howard Whittemore Memorial Library serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
68% of the 543 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 3.7 a week for ages 0–5. 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 Naugatuck’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Naugatuck is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns, #108 of 155 in Connecticut. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Naugatuck’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($72K–$120K) 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 →
81 community nonprofits are registered in Naugatuck
2.6 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 (25 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.9%
9.9% of Naugatuck’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 Naugatuck’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Howard Whittemore Memorial Library serves 31,820 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 27 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
57K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 54K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
11,912 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 7 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
Howard Whittemore Memorial Library, 243 Church St., Naugatuck.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Naugatuck? 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 $1.17 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Naugatuck cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $798K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $931K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $798K 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 5,788 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Naugatuck ranks 6th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bethany | Clark Memorial Library fine-free | 6.9 | 37 | B |
| Middlebury | Middlebury Public Library | 5.5 | 41 | C+ |
| Oxford | Oxford Public Library fine-free | 3.5 | 46 | C+ |
| Beacon Falls | Beacon Falls Public Library fine-free | 3.1 | 42 | C− |
| Prospect | Prospect Public Library | 3.0 | 43 | C+ |
| Naugatuck | Howard Whittemore Memorial Library fine-free | 1.8 | 40 | C+ |
| Waterbury | Silas Bronson Library | 1.1 | 56 | 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 Naugatuck
Does Naugatuck have a public library?
Yes. Howard Whittemore Memorial Library, 243 Church St., serves 31,820 people in and around Naugatuck (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Howard Whittemore Memorial 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 Naugatuck’s library?
It logged 2.5 visits and lent 1.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Naugatuck’s civic life grade?
C+ Naugatuck is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns on civic life, #108 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 Naugatuck.
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.