Deuel County Courthouse · Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainChappell’s library lends 1.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Chappell Memorial Library & Art Gallery serves Chappell’s 851 residents. Last year it lent 3,042 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,612 visits.
Chappell’s library, in brief
Open only about 14 hours a week
Chappell Memorial Library & Art Gallery keeps short hours: about 14 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Chappell Memorial Library & Art Gallery serves 851 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 ↓
Most of Chappell’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 50% of loans, more per resident than at 69% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 50%. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Chappell’s civic life grade
Chappell 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 →
50% of borrowing is digital
3,042 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 8,606 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
1,509 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Chappell Memorial Library & Art Gallery serves 851 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
30 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 Chappell last year.
Find it
Chappell Memorial Library & Art Gallery, 289 Babcock Avenue, Chappell.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Chappell? 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 Chappell cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $54K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $50K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $54K 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 298 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. Chappell Memorial Library & Art Gallery 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 Chappell
Does Chappell have a public library?
Yes. Chappell Memorial Library & Art Gallery, 289 Babcock Avenue, serves Chappell’s 851 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 14 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Chappell Memorial Library & Art Gallery 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 Chappell’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 3.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Chappell’s civic life grade?
Chappell 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 Chappell.
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.