Photo: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY-SA 4.0Cavendish’s library logs 4.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Cavendish Fletcher Community serves Cavendish’s 1,400 residents. Last year it lent 5,429 books, movies and e-books and logged 6,786 visits.
What stands out about Cavendish’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Cavendish’s civic life grade
On library visits and community nonprofits, Cavendish is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns. Cavendish is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Cavendish’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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in Cavendish
9.6 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Cavendish Fletcher Community serves 1,400 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
5,429 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Cavendish’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 16K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
960 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
29 programs a year
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.
Find it
Cavendish Fletcher Community, 573 Main St., Proctorsville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Cavendish? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cavendish cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $109K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $98K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $109K 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 625 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cavendish | Cavendish Fletcher Community fine-free | 3.9 | 27 | A |
| Weathersfield | Weathersfield Proctor fine-free | 1.3 | 32 | C+ |
| Reading | Reading Public | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Ludlow | Fletcher Memorial fine-free | — | 37 | A |
| Baltimore | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Cavendish
Does Cavendish have a public library?
Yes. Cavendish Fletcher Community, 573 Main St., serves Cavendish’s 1,400 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 27 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cavendish Fletcher Community 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 Cavendish’s library?
It logged 4.8 visits and lent 3.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Cavendish’s civic life grade?
A Cavendish is ahead of 92% 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 Cavendish.
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.