Photo: Daderot · CC BY-SA 3.0Rocky Hill’s library lends 8.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Cora J. Belden Library serves Rocky Hill’s 20,708 residents. Last year it lent 205K books, movies and e-books and logged 107K visits.
Rocky Hill’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 56% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 28 items per child in Rocky Hill last year. Kids & programs ↓
Top 10% in Connecticut for kids’ borrowing
Rocky Hill ranks #7 of 123 Connecticut towns with a library of their own for children’s items borrowed per child. 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 Rocky Hill’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Rocky Hill is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns, #100 of 155 in Connecticut. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
78 community nonprofits are registered in Rocky Hill
3.7 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 (9 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.
5.5%
5.5% of Rocky Hill’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 Rocky Hill’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Cora J. Belden Library serves 20,708 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 79 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
205K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 52K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.4 times last year, on average.
28,539 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 7 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 Rocky Hill last year.
Find it
Cora J. Belden Library, 33 Church St., Rocky Hill.
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 Rocky Hill? 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 $3.03 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rocky Hill cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M 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 7,165 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Rocky Hill ranks 2nd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glastonbury | Welles-Turner Memorial Library fine-free | 11.0 | 64 | B− |
| Rocky Hill | Cora J. Belden Library fine-free | 9.9 | 50 | B− |
| Berlin | Berlin-Peck Memorial Library fine-free | 9.9 | 53 | C |
| Cromwell | Cromwell Belden Public Library fine-free | 8.8 | 50 | B− |
| Wethersfield | Wethersfield Public Library | 8.7 | 55 | C+ |
| Newington | Lucy Robbins Welles Library fine-free | 8.0 | 52 | 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 Rocky Hill
Does Rocky Hill have a public library?
Yes. Cora J. Belden Library, 33 Church St., serves Rocky Hill’s 20,708 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cora J. Belden 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 Rocky Hill’s library?
It logged 5.2 visits and lent 9.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Rocky Hill’s civic life grade?
B− Rocky Hill is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns on civic life, #100 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 Rocky Hill.
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.