LUNA (tugboat) · Photo: Nkwoodward · CC BY 4.0Chelsea’s library lends 0.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Chelsea Public Library serves Chelsea’s 38,637 residents. Last year it lent 26K print books and media and drew 2,930 people to its programs.
What Chelsea’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Chelsea Public Library sits below the middle on all five per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on five. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Chelsea Public Library offered 129 programs last year, 3.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 15% of the people Chelsea Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Chelsea Public Library spends $11 per resident, less than 94% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). What your card is worth ↓
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 Chelsea’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Chelsea is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns, #280 of 283 in Massachusetts. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so Chelsea is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Chelsea’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
The survey’s stand-in for Chelsea’s 2024 visits is its own estimate, so it is left out.
Chelsea Public Library spends $11 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($54K–$90K) 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 →
73 community nonprofits are registered in Chelsea
1.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (21 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
2.4%
2.4% of Chelsea’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 Chelsea’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Chelsea Public Library serves 38,637 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Books and media off the shelf
26K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 52K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
129 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 Chelsea last year.
Find it
Chelsea Public Library, 569 Broadway, Chelsea.
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 Chelsea? 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 $1.02 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Chelsea cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $440K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $450K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $440K 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 5,702 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Chelsea ranks 3rd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
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.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Chelsea Public Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate is its own, so we leave it out and never rank it.
- 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 Chelsea
Does Chelsea have a public library?
Yes. Chelsea Public Library, 569 Broadway, serves Chelsea’s 38,637 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Chelsea 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 Chelsea’s library?
It lent 0.7 items per resident in 2024 (print) and ran 129 programs that drew 2,930 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Chelsea’s civic life grade?
D− Chelsea is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns on civic life, #280 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 Chelsea.
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.