Photo: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD · CC BY-SA 4.0North Stonington’s library lends 7.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Wheeler Library serves North Stonington’s 5,165 residents. Last year it lent 44K books, movies and e-books and logged 21K visits.
What North Stonington’s library is like
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
61% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 39%. What your card is worth ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 60% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 87% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 26 items per child in North Stonington last year. Kids & programs ↓
Top 10% in Connecticut for kids’ borrowing
North Stonington ranks #11 of 123 Connecticut towns with a library of their own for children’s items borrowed per child. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
77% of the 170 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.2 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 North Stonington’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, North Stonington is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns, #59 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 →
20 community nonprofits are registered in North Stonington
3.9 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.2%
9.2% of North Stonington’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 North Stonington’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Wheeler Library serves 5,165 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 24 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
44K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 19K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2 times last year, on average.
6,690 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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 North Stonington last year.
Find it
Wheeler Library, 101 Main St., North Stonington.
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 North Stonington? 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 $2.78 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average North Stonington cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $233K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $647K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $233K 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 2,398 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
North Stonington ranks 2nd of 8 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westerly | Westerly Public Library | 10.3 | 57 | B+ |
| North Stonington | Wheeler Library fine-free | 8.4 | 35 | B+ |
| Ledyard | Ledyard Public Libraries fine-free | 6.9 | 51 | B |
| Ashaway | Ashaway Free Library fine-free | 6.5 | 35 | — graded as part of its town |
| Hopkinton | Langworthy Public Library fine-free | 6.2 | 33 | B |
| Voluntown | Voluntown Public Library fine-free | 5.6 | 30 | B |
| Stonington | Stonington Free Library fine-free | 3.2 | 53 | B |
| Preston | Preston Public Library fine-free | 3.2 | 31 | B− |
| Griswold | Slater Library fine-free | — | 33 | 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. Wheeler 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 North Stonington
Does North Stonington have a public library?
Yes. Wheeler Library, 101 Main St., serves North Stonington’s 5,165 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Wheeler 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 North Stonington’s library?
It logged 4.0 visits and lent 8.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is North Stonington’s civic life grade?
B+ North Stonington is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns on civic life, #59 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 North Stonington.
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.