Chaffee’s library logs 1.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Chaffee Public Library serves Chaffee’s 3,057 residents. Last year it lent 10K books, movies and e-books and logged 5,864 visits.
Chaffee’s library, in brief
Programs are almost all for children
86% of the 63 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 24 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Nearly everyone in Chaffee has a card
2,946 cards for 3,057 people, or 96%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 0% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 99% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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 Chaffee’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Chaffee is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns, #102 of 229 in Missouri. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
13 community nonprofits are registered in Chaffee
4.3 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
19.0%
19.0% of Chaffee’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.3% in the typical Missouri 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 Chaffee’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Chaffee Public Library serves 3,057 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
10K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
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 Chaffee last year.
Find it
Chaffee Public Library, 202 Wright Ave, Chaffee.
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 $2.35 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Chaffee cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $75K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $176K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $75K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 2,946 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Chaffee Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Chaffee
Does Chaffee have a public library?
Yes. Chaffee Public Library, 202 Wright Ave, serves Chaffee’s 3,057 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Chaffee Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Chaffee’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 3.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Chaffee’s civic life grade?
B+ Chaffee is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns on civic life, #102 of 229 in Missouri. 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 Chaffee.
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.