Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Cheshire’s library logs 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Cheshire Public Library serves Cheshire’s 3,215 residents. Last year it lent 4,698 print books and media and logged 2,521 visits.
What Cheshire’s library is like
Cheshire Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Cheshire Public Library records 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $9 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Every town next door borrows more
Cheshire’s library lends 1.5 items per resident. Each of the three neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Dalton at 8.4. Libraries next door ↓
Open only about 15 hours a week
Cheshire Public Library keeps short hours: about 15 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Dalton Free Public Library in Dalton, next door, is open about 33 hours a week. The building ↓
Programs are almost all for children
86% of the 69 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 42 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.
What’s behind Cheshire’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Cheshire is ahead of 17% of U.S. towns, #260 of 283 in Massachusetts. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Cheshire’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Cheshire Public Library spends $9 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size, and its 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($52K–$87K) 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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Cheshire
3.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.6%
6.6% of Cheshire’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 Cheshire’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Cheshire Public Library serves 3,215 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
4,698 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Cheshire last year.
Find it
Cheshire Public Library, 23 Depot Street, Cheshire.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting.
New in Cheshire? 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 $2.54 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cheshire cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $30K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $77K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $30K 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 365 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Cheshire ranks 4th of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dalton | Dalton Free Public Library fine-free | 8.4 | 33 | B+ |
| Windsor | Windsor Free Public Library fine-free | 8.2 | 10 | — graded with its twin city |
| Lanesborough | Lanesborough Public Library fine-free | 1.7 | 24 | C+ |
| Cheshire | Cheshire Public Library fine-free | 1.5 | 15 | C− |
| Savoy | Savoy Hollow Library | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| New Ashford | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 are a typical-week estimate. Cheshire 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 Cheshire
Does Cheshire have a public library?
Yes. Cheshire Public Library, 23 Depot Street, serves Cheshire’s 3,215 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 15 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cheshire Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Cheshire’s library?
It logged 0.8 visits and lent 1.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Cheshire’s civic life grade?
C− Cheshire is ahead of 17% of U.S. towns on civic life, #260 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 Cheshire.
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.