Photo: Elisa.rolle · CC BY-SA 4.0Norfolk’s library logs 12 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Norfolk Library serves Norfolk’s 1,596 residents. Last year it lent 19K books, movies and e-books and logged 19K visits.
Norfolk’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
99% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 0%. What your card is worth ↓
Norfolk out-borrows every town next door
At 12 loans per resident, Norfolk leads the four towns here. The closest is Canaan, at 9.1. Libraries next door ↓
People come to Norfolk Library a lot
Norfolk Library logs 12 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 93% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 8.6 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Programs draw a crowd
7,975 people came to the library’s 309 programs last year: 5 per resident, against a typical 0.7, more than at 97% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Norfolk invests in its library
Norfolk Library spends $418 per resident a year, about eight times the typical $54 for a library its size. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Norfolk’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Norfolk is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Norfolk’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
21 community nonprofits are registered in Norfolk
12.1 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.8%
8.8% of Norfolk’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 Norfolk’s residents live; 2022.
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 Norfolk last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Norfolk Library serves 1,596 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
19K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 29K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
5,000 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Norfolk Library, 9 Greenwoods Road East, Norfolk.
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 Norfolk? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Norfolk cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $667K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $374K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $667K 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 996 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Norfolk borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norfolk | Norfolk Library fine-free | 11.7 | 46 | A+ |
| Canaan | David M. Hunt Library fine-free | 9.1 | 27 | A+ |
| Goshen | Goshen Public Library fine-free | 6.6 | 47 | B+ |
| North Canaan | Douglas Library fine-free | 2.9 | 30 | B |
| Colebrook | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
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 Norfolk
Does Norfolk have a public library?
Yes. Norfolk Library, 9 Greenwoods Road East, serves Norfolk’s 1,596 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Norfolk 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 Norfolk’s library?
It logged 11.9 visits and lent 11.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Norfolk’s civic life grade?
A+ Norfolk is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Norfolk.
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.