Photo: Art davis · CC BY-SA 4.0Norwich’s library lends 9.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Norwich Public serves Norwich’s 417 residents. Last year it lent 4,131 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,744 visits.
Norwich’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
636 cards for 417 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 ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 83% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Open only about 12 hours a week
Norwich Public keeps short hours: about 12 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Busy on a lean budget
Norwich Public spends $34 per resident, less than 76% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). It’s still busier than 82% of them. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Norwich Public serves 417 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 Norwich’s civic life grade
Norwich 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 →
51 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Norwich Public serves 417 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
4,131 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 6,173 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
251 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Norwich Public, 209 South Parkway, Norwich.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Norwich? 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 $4.57 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Norwich cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $14K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $65K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $14K 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 636 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. Norwich Public counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Norwich
Does Norwich have a public library?
Yes. Norwich Public, 209 South Parkway, serves Norwich’s 417 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 12 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Norwich Public 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 Norwich’s library?
It logged 6.6 visits and lent 9.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Norwich’s civic life grade?
Norwich 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 Norwich.
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.