Photo: 3Dimka at en.wikipedia · Public domainSouthington’s library lends 5.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Southington Public Library serves Southington’s 43,743 residents. Last year it lent 314K books, movies and e-books and logged 126K visits.
What Southington’s library is like
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Southington Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Six of the seven libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Southington Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1989. Today’s library there has 21,000 square feet. The building ↓
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 Southington’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Southington is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #126 of 155 in Connecticut. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Southington’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($93K–$155K) 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 →
152 community nonprofits are registered in Southington
3.5 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 (16 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 7 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.1%
6.1% of Southington’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 Southington’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1989
Southington Public Library, 255 Main St., Southington.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Southington? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Southington Public Library
Southington Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Feb 9, 1989. It is significant for its architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Neo-Classical Revival.
The Southington Public Library is the public library serving Southington, Connecticut. It is located at 255 Main Street in a modern facility erected in 1974. Its first building, constructed in 1902 and located at 239 Main Street, now houses the Southington Historical Center. That building, a fine local example of Classical Revival architecture, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Southington Public Library serves 43,743 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 110 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
314K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 100K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.4 times last year, on average.
72,016 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 10 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 Southington last year.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.25 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Southington cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.2M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 15,293 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Southington ranks 3rd of 8 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheshire | Cheshire Public Library fine-free | 10.8 | 61 | B+ |
| Berlin | Berlin-Peck Memorial Library fine-free | 9.9 | 53 | C |
| Southington | Southington Public Library | 7.2 | 55 | C |
| Plainville | Plainville Public Library fine-free | 6.8 | 56 | C+ |
| Bristol | Bristol Public Library fine-free | 4.5 | 62 | C− |
| Wolcott | Wolcott Public Library | 3.5 | 49 | C |
| New Britain | New Britain Public Library fine-free | 3.4 | 57 | D |
| Meriden | Meriden Public Library fine-free | 2.1 | 53 | D |
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 Southington
Does Southington have a public library?
Yes. Southington Public Library, 255 Main St., serves Southington’s 43,743 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Southington Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Southington’s library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 7.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Southington’s civic life grade?
C Southington is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on civic life, #126 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 Southington.
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.