Photo: Bob Linsdell · CC BY 3.0Chatham’s library logs 20 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Eldredge Public Library serves Chatham’s 6,643 residents. Last year it lent 88K print books and media and logged 132K visits.
The short version on Chatham’s library
Chatham ranks 3rd in Massachusetts for library use
Out of 263 Massachusetts towns with a library of their own, Chatham comes 3rd for visits per resident. It’s also #4 for kids’ borrowing. How it compares ↓
Chatham uses its library more than almost any town its size
Eldredge Public Library logs 20 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 13 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 96% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Nearly everyone in Chatham has a card
6,560 cards for 6,643 people, or 99%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
39% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 60%. What your card is worth ↓
Every town next door borrows more
Chatham’s library lends 13 items per resident. Each of the three neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Orleans at 19. Libraries next door ↓
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 Chatham’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Chatham is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns, #54 of 283 in Massachusetts. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Eldredge Public Library logged 19.8 visits per resident in FY2024, #29 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare. The survey counts every visit, residents or not, and libraries don’t report how many come from out of town.
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 →
58 community nonprofits are registered in Chatham
8.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (3 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.
6.5%
6.5% of Chatham’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.9% in the typical Massachusetts 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 Chatham’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 40 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Eldredge Public Library serves 6,643 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Books and media off the shelf
88K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 60K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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 Chatham last year.
A National Register landmark since 1992
Eldredge Public Library, 564 Main St., Chatham.
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 Chatham? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Eldredge Public Library
Eldredge Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Apr 28, 1992. It is significant for its education and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Victorian and Romanesque Revival.
Eldredge Public Library is the public library of Chatham, Massachusetts. It is located at 564 Main Street, in a National Register-listed Romanesque Revival building donated by Chatham native Marcellus Eldredge. It was designed by Boston architect A. M. Marble.
More about the building →Other libraries in Chatham
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.24 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Chatham cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.3M 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 6,560 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Chatham ranks 4th of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orleans | Snow Library fine-free | 19.1 | 45 | A |
| Harwich Port | Harwich Port Library Assoc. fine-free | 18.0 | 13 | — graded as part of its town |
| Harwich | Brooks Free Library fine-free | 14.6 | 46 | A− |
| Chatham | Eldredge Public Library fine-free | 13.3 | 42 | A |
| East Harwich | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| West Chatham | 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.
- Visits count everyone. Chatham’s 131,587 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Eldredge Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- Digital loans not reported. Massachusetts libraries often don’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 Chatham
Does Chatham have a public library?
Yes. Eldredge Public Library, 564 Main St., serves Chatham’s 6,643 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Eldredge Public 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 Chatham’s library?
It logged 19.8 visits and lent 13.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Chatham’s civic life grade?
A Chatham is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns on civic life, #54 of 283 in Massachusetts. 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 Chatham.
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.