Riders Mills Historic District · Photo: UtsukushiHikariNY · CC BY-SA 4.0Chatham’s library lends 14 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
North Chatham Free Library serves 1,108 people in and around Chatham. Last year it lent 18K books, movies and e-books and logged 4,968 visits.
The short version on Chatham’s library
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 57% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
37% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 58%. What your card is worth ↓
A system of heavy borrowers
North Chatham Free Library lends 14 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 93% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
A well-funded system
North Chatham Free Library spends $156 per resident a year, about three times the typical $54 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
78% of the 154 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 34 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; North Chatham Free Library serves 1,108 people in and around Chatham, 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 Chatham’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Chatham is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns, #68 of 751 in New York. Chatham is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Chatham’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 →
30 community nonprofits are registered in Chatham
7.5 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.2%
9.2% of Chatham’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 Chatham’s residents live; 2022.
154 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
North Chatham Free Library serves 1,108 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole North Chatham Free Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
18K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,128 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
North Chatham Free Library, 4287 State Route 203, North Chatham.
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 North Chatham Free Library branch.
New in Chatham? 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 $1.65 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Chatham cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $172K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $284K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $172K 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 752 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 |
| Nassau | Nassau Free Library fine-free | 5.2 | 40 | C |
| Chatham | North Chatham Free Library fine-free | — | 36 | A |
| Kinderhook | Kinderhook Memorial Library fine-free | — | 47 | A− |
| Canaan | Canaan Public Library fine-free | — | 6 | A |
| Ghent | Chatham Public Library fine-free | — | 45 | 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. North Chatham Free Library serves 1,108 people in and around Chatham, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Chatham.
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 Chatham
Does Chatham have a public library?
Yes. North Chatham Free Library, 4287 State Route 203, serves 1,108 people in and around Chatham (the survey’s count) and is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is North Chatham Free 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 Chatham’s library?
It logged 4.5 visits and lent 16.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Chatham’s civic life grade?
A Chatham is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns on civic life, #68 of 751 in New York. 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 Chatham.
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.