Photo: Mojo Hand · CC BY-SA 4.0Chatham’s library lends 2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Pittsylvania County Public Library serves 60,142 people in and around Chatham from 2 locations. Last year it lent 139K books, movies and e-books and logged 110K visits.
What stands out about Pittsylvania County Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Chatham’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Chatham is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns. Chatham is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Chatham’s count of community nonprofits pulls 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 →
5 community nonprofits are registered in Chatham
3.6 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.8%
7.8% of Chatham’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.9% in the typical Virginia 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Pittsylvania County Public Library serves 60,142 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Pittsylvania County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
139K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
17,108 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 8 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.
2 places to borrow in Chatham
Pittsylvania County Public Library, 24 Military Dr, Chatham.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Pittsylvania County Public Library branch.
New in Chatham? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Pittsylvania County Public Library branches in Chatham
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.62 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Chatham cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2M 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 3,422 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Pittsylvania County Public Library serves 60,142 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. Pittsylvania County Public Library, 24 Military Dr, serves 60,142 people in and around Chatham (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pittsylvania County Public Library 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 Chatham’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 2.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Chatham’s civic life grade?
B− Chatham is ahead of 48% 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 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.