Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Chichester’s library lends 5.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Chichester Town Library serves Chichester’s 2,727 residents. Last year it lent 18K books, movies and e-books and logged 3,605 visits.
What Chichester’s library is like
Chichester out-borrows every town next door
At 6.7 loans per resident, Chichester leads the five towns here. The closest is Epsom, at 6.1. Libraries next door ↓
Programs lean toward adults
71% of the 102 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 17 were for children. 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.
What’s behind Chichester’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Chichester is ahead of 19% of U.S. towns, #121 of 126 in New Hampshire. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Chichester’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($82K–$137K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Chichester
3.7 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.1%
6.1% of Chichester’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 Chichester’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Chichester Town Library serves 2,727 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: library cards. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
18K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 15K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
3,315 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
102 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 Chichester last year.
Find it
Chichester Town Library, 161 Main Street, Chichester.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Chichester? 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 $2.87 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Chichester resident borrows (the library didn’t report its card count for 2024).
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $102K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $292K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $102K 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 resident’s month = the library’s yearly loans and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ the 2,727 people it serves ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Chichester borrows the most per resident of the 5 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chichester | Chichester Town Library fine-free | 6.7 | 23 | C− |
| Epsom | Epsom Public Library fine-free | 6.1 | 39 | C+ |
| Loudon | Maxfield Public Library fine-free | 4.6 | 34 | C |
| Pembroke | Pembroke Town Library fine-free | 4.0 | 40 | C |
| Pittsfield | Josiah Carpenter Library fine-free | 3.5 | 31 | B |
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.
- Not reported for 2024: library cards. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
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 Chichester
Does Chichester have a public library?
Yes. Chichester Town Library, 161 Main Street, serves Chichester’s 2,727 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 23 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Chichester Town 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 Chichester’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 6.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Chichester’s civic life grade?
C− Chichester is ahead of 19% of U.S. towns on civic life, #121 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 Chichester.
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.