Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 4.0Columbia’s library lends 7.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Saxton B. Little Free Library serves Columbia’s 5,268 residents. Last year it lent 42K books, movies and e-books and logged 21K visits.
What Columbia’s library is like
Columbia invests in its library
Saxton B. Little Free Library spends $93 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (91%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 6% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 70% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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 Columbia’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Columbia is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns, #26 of 155 in Connecticut. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
27 community nonprofits are registered in Columbia
5.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.3%
10.3% of Columbia’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.5% in the typical Connecticut 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 Columbia’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
42K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 60K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
2,619 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Saxton B. Little Free Library serves 5,268 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
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 Columbia last year.
Find it
Saxton B. Little Free Library, 319 Route 87, Columbia.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Columbia? 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 $1.42 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Columbia cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $488K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $693K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $488K 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 1,646 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Columbia ranks 2nd of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lebanon | Jonathan Trumbull Library fine-free | 8.1 | 42 | B |
| Columbia | Saxton B. Little Free Library fine-free | 8.0 | 51 | A− |
| Hebron | Douglas Library of Hebron | 7.7 | 45 | B+ |
| Coventry | Booth & Dimock Memorial Library fine-free | 6.0 | 43 | B− |
| Andover | Andover Public Library | 4.3 | 40 | B+ |
| Willimantic | Willimantic Public Library fine-free | 1.4 | 44 | — graded as part of its town |
| Windham | Willimantic Public Library fine-free | 1.4 | 44 | C− |
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. Saxton B. Little Free 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 Columbia
Does Columbia have a public library?
Yes. Saxton B. Little Free Library, 319 Route 87, serves Columbia’s 5,268 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Saxton B. Little 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 Columbia’s library?
It logged 3.9 visits and lent 8.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Columbia’s civic life grade?
A− Columbia is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns on civic life, #26 of 155 in Connecticut. 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 Columbia.
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.