Photo: Делян Ковачев · CC BY-SA 3.0Shelton’s library lends 3.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Plumb Memorial Library serves 42,144 people in and around Shelton from 2 locations. Last year it lent 162K books, movies and e-books and logged 125K visits.
What Shelton’s library is like
The library is a National Register landmark
Plumb Memorial Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1978. Today’s library there has 18,000 square feet. The buildings ↓
Most programs are for young children
71% of the 547 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 6.2 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 Shelton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Shelton is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #124 of 155 in Connecticut. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Shelton’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($81K–$135K) 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 →
153 community nonprofits are registered in Shelton
3.7 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 (26 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.
5.8%
5.8% of Shelton’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 Shelton’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1978
Plumb Memorial Library, 65 Wooster St., Shelton.
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 Shelton? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Plumb Memorial Library
Plumb Memorial Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Nov 7, 1978. It is significant for its architecture at the state level. Its architecture is described as Romanesque.
The Plumb Memorial Library is a public library in Shelton, Connecticut. It is located at 65 Wooster Street in an architecturally distinguished Richardsonian Romanesque building designed by Bridgeport architect Charles T. Beardsley, Jr. and built in 1895. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
More about the building →Other libraries in Shelton
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Plumb Memorial Library serves 42,144 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 43 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
162K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 101K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.
32,924 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 8 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.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.07 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Shelton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M 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 9,948 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Shelton ranks 6th of 8 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orange | Case Memorial Library fine-free | 10.1 | 53 | B |
| Trumbull | Trumbull Library | 8.9 | 60 | B+ |
| Monroe | Edith Wheeler Memorial Library | 7.7 | 43 | B− |
| Stratford | Stratford Library Association fine-free | 5.8 | 57 | C− |
| Milford | Milford Public Library | 5.6 | 50 | C− |
| Shelton | Plumb Memorial Library fine-free | 3.8 | 37 | C |
| Seymour | Seymour Public Library fine-free | 3.4 | 41 | C |
| Derby | Derby Neck Library fine-free | 2.1 | 46 | C− |
| Oronoque | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Daniels Farm | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| East Village | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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 Shelton
Does Shelton have a public library?
Yes. Plumb Memorial Library, 65 Wooster St., serves 42,144 people in and around Shelton (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Plumb Memorial 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 Shelton’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 3.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Shelton’s civic life grade?
C Shelton is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on civic life, #124 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 Shelton.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.