Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0Canaan’s library is a branch of Chatham Public Library, which lends more per resident than 78% of systems its size
Canaan’s library is the Canaan Public Library, a branch of Chatham Public Library, which serves 9,194 people and lent 83K items last year.
The short version on Canaan’s library
Open only about 6 hours a week
The Canaan branch keeps short hours: about 6 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Programs lean toward adults
68% of the 841 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 239 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; Canaan’s library is a branch of Chatham Public Library, so they cover the whole system (9,194 people), not just the Canaan branch.
What’s behind Canaan’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Canaan is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns. Canaan is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Canaan’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Canaan
8.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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.
8.2%
8.2% of Canaan’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.4% in the typical New York 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 Canaan’s residents live; 2022.
About 5 kids’ programs a week
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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Chatham Public Library serves 9,194 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Chatham Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
83K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
22,159 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Canaan Public Library, 1647 Rte. 5, Canaan.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Chatham Public Library branch.
New in Canaan? 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 $2.92 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Canaan cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $468K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $468K 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 5,142 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Lebanon | New Lebanon Library fine-free | 9.1 | 44 | B |
| Canaan | Canaan Public Library fine-free | — | 6 | A |
| Chatham | North Chatham Free Library fine-free | — | 36 | A |
| Austerlitz | None of its own | — | — | A+ |
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.
- System-wide. Canaan Public Library is one branch of Chatham Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 9,194 people it serves.
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 Canaan
Does Canaan have a public library?
Yes: Canaan Public Library, 1647 Rte. 5, is a branch of Chatham Public Library, which serves 9,194 people. The branch is open about 6 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Chatham 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 Canaan’s library?
It logged 5.7 visits and lent 9.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Canaan’s civic life grade?
A Canaan is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Canaan.
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.