Photo: Mojo Hand · CC BY-SA 4.0Colonial Heights’ library logs 7.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Colonial Heights Public Library serves Colonial Heights’s 18,071 residents. Last year it lent 125K books, movies and e-books and logged 137K visits.
Colonial Heights’s library, in brief
Colonial Heights ranks 3rd in Virginia for library use
Out of 24 Virginia towns with a library of their own, Colonial Heights comes 3rd for visits per resident. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
99% of the 134 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.8 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Colonial Heights Public Library offered 134 programs last year, 7.4 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Virginia pays a big share
23% of the budget comes from the state, and 77% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
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 Colonial Heights’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Colonial Heights is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns, #51 of 88 in Virginia. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
55 community nonprofits are registered in Colonial Heights
3.0 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 (15 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.4%
6.4% of Colonial Heights’ 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 Colonial Heights’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Colonial Heights Public Library serves 18,071 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 42 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
125K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 49K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.1 times last year, on average.
20,431 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 kids’ programs a week
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 Colonial Heights last year.
Find it
Colonial Heights Public Library, 1000 Yacht Basin Drive, Colonial Heights.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Colonial Heights? 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 $2.37 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Colonial Heights cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $840K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $840K 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 5,497 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colonial Heights | Colonial Heights Public Library | 6.9 | 57 | B− |
| Petersburg | Petersburg Public Library fine-free | 2.8 | 54 | C |
| Ettrick | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Colonial Heights Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Colonial Heights
Does Colonial Heights have a public library?
Yes. Colonial Heights Public Library, 1000 Yacht Basin Drive, serves Colonial Heights’ 18,071 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Colonial Heights 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 Colonial Heights’ library?
It logged 7.6 visits and lent 6.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Colonial Heights’ civic life grade?
B− Colonial Heights is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns on civic life, #51 of 88 in Virginia. 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 Colonial Heights.
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.