Photo: Hayden Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Norwich’s library lends 1.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Otis Library serves 39,881 people in and around Norwich. Last year it lent 99K books, movies and e-books and logged 74K visits.
Norwich’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Otis Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on six. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 14% of the people Otis Library serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
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 Norwich’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Norwich is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns, #106 of 155 in Connecticut. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($49K–$81K) 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 →
138 community nonprofits are registered in Norwich
3.5 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 (31 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.
9.4%
9.4% of Norwich’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 Norwich’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Otis Library serves 39,881 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 44 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
99K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 76K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
21,501 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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
Otis Library, 261 Main St., Norwich.
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 Norwich? 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 $1.12 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Norwich cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.5M 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 5,713 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Norwich ranks 5th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin | Janet Carlson Calvert Library fine-free | 4.2 | 29 | A− |
| Preston | Preston Public Library fine-free | 3.2 | 31 | B− |
| Sprague | Sprague Public Library fine-free | 3.0 | 31 | C+ |
| Baltic | Sprague Public Library fine-free | 3.0 | 31 | — graded as part of its town |
| Norwich | Otis Library fine-free | 2.5 | 44 | C+ |
| Montville | Raymond Library fine-free | 2.4 | 29 | C− |
| Bozrah | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Lisbon | None of its own | — | — | 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.
- 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 Norwich
Does Norwich have a public library?
Yes. Otis Library, 261 Main St., serves 39,881 people in and around Norwich (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Otis 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 Norwich’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 2.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Norwich’s civic life grade?
C+ Norwich is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns on civic life, #106 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 Norwich.
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.