Photo: Billwhittaker · CC BY-SA 3.0Charter Oak’s library logs 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Charter Oak Public Library serves Charter Oak’s 592 residents. Last year it lent 336 print books and media and logged 305 visits.
Charter Oak’s library, in brief
Charter Oak Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Charter Oak Public Library records 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 0.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $22 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
Open only about 11 hours a week
Charter Oak Public Library keeps short hours: about 11 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Charter Oak Public Library serves 592 residents with about one full-time staff. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Charter Oak’s civic life grade
Charter Oak isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Charter Oak Public Library serves 592 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Charter Oak Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
336 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 4,883 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
13 programs a year
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 Charter Oak last year.
Find it
Charter Oak Public Library, 461 Railroad St., Charter Oak.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Charter Oak cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $13K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6,494 worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $13K 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 168 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Charter Oak Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Charter Oak
Does Charter Oak have a public library?
Yes. Charter Oak Public Library, 461 Railroad St., serves Charter Oak’s 592 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 11 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Charter Oak Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Charter Oak’s library?
It logged 0.5 visits and lent 0.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Charter Oak’s civic life grade?
Charter Oak isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Charter Oak.
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.