Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Chesterfield’s library lends 3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Chesterfield Public Library serves Chesterfield’s 3,589 residents. Last year it lent 19K books, movies and e-books and logged 10K visits.
Chesterfield’s library, in brief
42% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 42% of loans, more per resident than at 80% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 58%. What people borrow ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Chesterfield Public Library holds 24,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. 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 Chesterfield’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Chesterfield is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns, #46 of 126 in New Hampshire. 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 →
20 community nonprofits are registered in Chesterfield
5.5 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. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.2%
9.2% of Chesterfield’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.9% in the typical New Hampshire 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 Chesterfield’s residents live; 2022.
42% of borrowing is digital
19K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Chesterfield’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 24K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
7,855 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 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Chesterfield Public Library serves 3,589 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
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.
Find it
Chesterfield Public Library, 524 Route 63, Chesterfield.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. 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 $1.67 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Chesterfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $191K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $319K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $191K 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 1,337 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Chesterfield ranks 2nd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brattleboro | Brooks Memorial | 12.9 | 56 | A+ |
| Chesterfield | Chesterfield Public Library fine-free | 5.2 | 35 | B+ |
| Westmoreland | Westmoreland Public Library fine-free | 3.5 | 20 | A |
| Swanzey | Mt. Caesar Union Library fine-free | 1.6 | 30 | C |
| Dummerston | Lydia Taft Pratt fine-free | 1.2 | 16 | B |
| Hinsdale | Hinsdale Public Library fine-free | 0.4 | 17 | C− |
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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, 524 Route 63, serves Chesterfield’s 3,589 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 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 2.9 visits and lent 5.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Chesterfield’s civic life grade?
B+ Chesterfield is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns on civic life, #46 of 126 in New Hampshire. 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.