Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0Chesterfield’s library lends 5.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Chesterfield Public Library serves Chesterfield’s 1,175 residents. Last year it lent 6,740 print books and media and logged 3,200 visits.
Chesterfield’s library, in brief
Open only about 14 hours a week
Chesterfield Public Library keeps short hours: about 14 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Chesterfield Public Library serves 1,175 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 Chesterfield’s civic life grade
On library visits and community nonprofits, Chesterfield is ahead of 77% of U.S. towns. Chesterfield is graded on two of the three inputs. Chesterfield’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
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 Chesterfield
10.6 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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Chesterfield Public Library serves 1,175 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
6,740 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 11K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
33 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 Chesterfield last year.
Find it
Chesterfield Public Library, 408 Main Road, Chesterfield.
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 Chesterfield? 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 $2.27 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Chesterfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $48K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $109K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $48K 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 464 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Chesterfield ranks 2nd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Williamsburg | Meekins Public Library fine-free | 18.2 | 22 | A+ |
| Chesterfield | Chesterfield Public Library fine-free | 5.7 | 14 | A− |
| Huntington | Huntington Public Library fine-free | 2.1 | 23 | B |
| Worthington | Worthington Library fine-free | 1.9 | 16 | B+ |
| Goshen | Goshen Free Public Library | 1.3 | 12 | — 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. Chesterfield 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 Chesterfield
Does Chesterfield have a public library?
Yes. Chesterfield Public Library, 408 Main Road, serves Chesterfield’s 1,175 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 14 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Chesterfield 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 Chesterfield’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 5.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Chesterfield’s civic life grade?
A− Chesterfield is ahead of 77% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Chesterfield.
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.