Plainfield’s library runs 123 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Plainfield Public Library serves Plainfield’s 454 residents. Last year it lent 2,274 print books and media and logged 2,592 visits.
What Plainfield’s library is like
More library cards than residents
953 cards for 454 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Plainfield Public Library serves 454 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 25 hours a week. 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 ↓
Most programs are for young children
79% of the 56 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 36 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Plainfield’s civic life grade
Plainfield 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Plainfield Public Library serves 454 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
2,274 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 9,537 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
56 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.
Find it
Plainfield Public Library, 723 Main St., Plainfield.
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 Plainfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $43K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $40K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $43K budget.
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 953 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- 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 Plainfield
Does Plainfield have a public library?
Yes. Plainfield Public Library, 723 Main St., serves Plainfield’s 454 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 25 hours a week, averaged over the year.
How busy is Plainfield’s library?
It logged 5.7 visits and lent 5.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Plainfield’s civic life grade?
Plainfield 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 Plainfield.
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.