Photo: Beyond My Ken3 · CC BY-SA 4.0Chilmark’s library logs 24 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Chilmark Free Public Library serves Chilmark’s 1,235 residents. Last year it lent 21K print books and media and logged 29K visits.
Chilmark’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
2,472 cards for 1,235 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 ↓
Chilmark uses its library more than almost any town its size
Chilmark Free Public Library logs 24 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 17 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 96% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 75% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 61 items per child in Chilmark last year. Kids & programs ↓
Chilmark invests in its library
Chilmark Free Public Library spends $493 per resident a year, about nine times the typical $54 for a library its size. Almost all of it (95%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Programs draw a crowd
4,585 people came to the library’s 207 programs last year: 3.7 per resident, against a typical 0.7, more than at 95% of similar-size libraries. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Chilmark’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Chilmark is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns. Chilmark is graded on two of the three inputs. Chilmark’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls 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 →
26 community nonprofits are registered in Chilmark
16.3 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.4%
6.4% of Chilmark’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 Chilmark’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 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 under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Chilmark Free Public Library serves 1,235 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
21K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 37K 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.
About 3 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 Chilmark last year.
Find it
Chilmark Free Public Library, 522 South Rd., Chilmark.
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 Chilmark? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Chilmark cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $609K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $328K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $609K 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 2,472 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Chilmark ranks 3rd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Tisbury | West Tisbury Free Public Library fine-free | 34.6 | 51 | A+ |
| Gosnold | Cuttyhunk Public Library fine-free | 24.3 | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Chilmark | Chilmark Free Public Library fine-free | 17.2 | 29 | B+ |
| Aquinnah | Aquinnah Public Library fine-free | 14.6 | 17 | — 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 count everyone. Chilmark’s 29,038 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
- 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 Chilmark
Does Chilmark have a public library?
Yes. Chilmark Free Public Library, 522 South Rd., serves Chilmark’s 1,235 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 29 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Chilmark Free 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 Chilmark’s library?
It logged 23.5 visits and lent 17.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Chilmark’s civic life grade?
B+ Chilmark is ahead of 74% 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 Chilmark.
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.