Photo: USDA NRCS Montana · Public domainChester’s library lends 13 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Liberty County Library serves 1,959 people in and around Chester. Last year it lent 31K books, movies and e-books and logged 8,000 visits.
Chester’s library, in brief
Few programs for a library this size
Liberty County Library offered 3 programs last year, 1.5 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
A system of heavy borrowers
Liberty County Library lends 13 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 92% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 46% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 2.8 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 85% of similar-size libraries. It’s 18% of all loans. 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; Liberty County Library serves 1,959 people in and around Chester, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Chester’s civic life grade
Chester isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
3 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Liberty County Library serves 1,959 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Liberty County Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
31K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
5,474 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
Find it
Liberty County Library, 110 East 1st Street, Chester.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Good at every Liberty County Library branch.
New in Chester? 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 $2.74 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Chester cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $167K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $459K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $167K 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 961 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Liberty County Library serves 1,959 people in and around Chester, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Chester.
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 Chester
Does Chester have a public library?
Yes. Liberty County Library, 110 East 1st Street, serves 1,959 people in and around Chester (the survey’s count) and is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Liberty County 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 Chester’s library?
It logged 4.1 visits and lent 15.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Chester’s civic life grade?
Chester isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Chester.
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.