Photo: Bill Fitzpatrick · CC BY-SA 3.0Chesterfield’s library runs 19 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Chesterfield County Library System serves 43,273 people in and around Chesterfield. Last year it lent 44K print books and media and logged 60K visits.
Chesterfield’s library, in brief
Chesterfield County Library System is used less than most libraries its size
Chesterfield County Library System records 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $17 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
South Carolina pays a big share
20% of the budget comes from the state, and 78% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
58% of the 806 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 340 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; Chesterfield County Library System serves 43,273 people in and around Chesterfield, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Chesterfield’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Chesterfield is ahead of 19% of U.S. towns. Chesterfield is graded on two of the three inputs. Chesterfield’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Chesterfield County Library System spends $17 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($33K–$56K) 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Chesterfield
4.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
2.8%
2.8% of Chesterfield’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 4.4% in the typical South Carolina 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Chesterfield County Library System serves 43,273 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Chesterfield County Library System system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
44K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 7 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.
Find it
Chesterfield County Library System, 119 W. Main Street, Chesterfield.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Chesterfield County Library System branch.
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 $1.01 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Chesterfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $746K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $751K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $746K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 14,675 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Chesterfield County Library System serves 43,273 people in and around Chesterfield, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Chesterfield.
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 County Library System, 119 W. Main Street, serves 43,273 people in and around Chesterfield (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Chesterfield County Library System fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Chesterfield’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 1.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Chesterfield’s civic life grade?
C− Chesterfield is ahead of 19% 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 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.