Photo: ajay_suresh · CC BY 2.0New Canaan’s library logs 17 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
New Canaan Library serves New Canaan’s 20,862 residents. Last year it lent 284K books, movies and e-books and logged 356K visits.
The short version on New Canaan’s library
New Canaan has the most-used library in Connecticut
Out of 123 Connecticut towns with a library of their own, New Canaan comes first for visits per resident. It’s also #9 for borrowing. How it compares ↓
New Canaan uses its library more than almost any town its size
New Canaan Library logs 17 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 10 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 90% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
New Canaan Library ran 1,557 programs last year, about 30 a week. That’s 75 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. People show up: 47,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 57% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 22 items per child in New Canaan last year. Kids & programs ↓
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 ↓
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 New Canaan’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, New Canaan is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns, #26 of 155 in Connecticut. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
New Canaan Library logged 17.1 visits per resident in FY2024, #45 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare. The survey counts every visit, residents or not, and libraries don’t report how many come from out of town.
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 →
161 community nonprofits are registered in New Canaan
7.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.6%
5.6% of New Canaan’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 New Canaan’s residents live; 2022.
About 12 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 New Canaan last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
New Canaan Library serves 20,862 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 103 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
284K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 88K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.4 times last year, on average.
70,646 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
New Canaan Library, 151 Main St., New Canaan.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in New Canaan? 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 New Canaan cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $4.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.2M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 11,804 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
New Canaan ranks 2nd of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darien | Darien Library | 25.0 | 72 | B+ |
| New Canaan | New Canaan Library | 13.6 | 63 | A− |
| Wilton | Wilton Library Association | 12.7 | 55 | A |
| Pound Ridge | Pound Ridge Library District fine-free | 10.4 | 40 | B− |
| Lewisboro | Lewisboro Library | 8.3 | 45 | A− |
| Norwalk | Rowayton Library | 6.4 | 46 | C− |
| Stamford | Ferguson Library fine-free | 4.5 | 57 | C |
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 count everyone. New Canaan’s 355,921 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
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 New Canaan
Does New Canaan have a public library?
Yes. New Canaan Library, 151 Main St., serves New Canaan’s 20,862 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 63 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is New Canaan Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is New Canaan’s library?
It logged 17.1 visits and lent 13.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is New Canaan’s civic life grade?
A− New Canaan is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns on civic life, #26 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 New Canaan.
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.