Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0New Hartford’s library lends 6.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Licia & Mason Beekley Community Library serves New Hartford’s 6,709 residents. Last year it lent 47K books, movies and e-books and logged 21K visits.
New Hartford’s library, in brief
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
36% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 63%. 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 Hartford’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, New Hartford is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns, #35 of 155 in Connecticut. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
35 community nonprofits are registered in New Hartford
5.2 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 (6 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.
9.5%
9.5% of New Hartford’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 Hartford’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Licia & Mason Beekley Community Library serves 6,709 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
47K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 62K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
6,016 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Hartford last year.
2 places to borrow in New Hartford
Licia&mason Beekley Community Library, 10 Central Ave., New Hartford.
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 New Hartford? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in New Hartford
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.18 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average New Hartford cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $343K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $749K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $343K 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 3,960 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
New Hartford ranks 6th of 8 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canton | Canton Public Library fine-free | 13.9 | 49 | A− |
| Collinsville | Canton Public Library fine-free | 13.9 | 49 | — graded as part of its town |
| Harwinton | Harwinton Public Library fine-free | 8.4 | 46 | A− |
| Northwest Harwinton | Harwinton Public Library fine-free | 8.4 | 46 | — graded as part of its town |
| Burlington | Burlington Public Library fine-free | 7.2 | 50 | B |
| New Hartford | Licia&mason Beekley Community Library fine-free | 7.1 | 47 | B+ |
| New Hartford Center | Licia&mason Beekley Community Library fine-free | 7.1 | 47 | — graded as part of its town |
| Torrington | Torrington Library Association fine-free | 1.9 | 49 | C− |
| Barkhamsted | None of its own | — | — | B |
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. Licia & Mason Beekley Community 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 New Hartford
Does New Hartford have a public library?
Yes. Licia & Mason Beekley Community Library, 10 Central Ave., serves New Hartford’s 6,709 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Licia & Mason Beekley Community 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 New Hartford’s library?
It logged 3.1 visits and lent 7.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is New Hartford’s civic life grade?
B+ New Hartford is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns on civic life, #35 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 Hartford.
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.