Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Danbury’s library logs 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Danbury Public Library serves 86,124 people in and around Danbury. Last year it lent 274K books, movies and e-books and logged 124K visits.
The short version on Danbury’s library
Every town next door borrows more
Danbury’s library lends 3.2 items per resident. Each of the six neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Ridgefield at 12. Libraries next door ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Danbury Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Four of the six libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. 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 Danbury’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Danbury is ahead of 7% of U.S. towns, #153 of 155 in Connecticut. Danbury is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Danbury’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($63K–$104K) 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 →
244 community nonprofits are registered in Danbury
2.8 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 (74 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 12 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
2.9%
2.9% of Danbury’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 Danbury’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Danbury Public Library serves 86,124 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 103 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
274K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 95K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2 times last year, on average.
86,592 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 10 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.
2 places to borrow in Danbury
Danbury Public Library, 170 Main Street, Danbury.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Danbury? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Danbury
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Danbury cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.3M 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 22,142 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Danbury ranks 7th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ridgefield | Ridgefield Library | 12.5 | 58 | A |
| Redding | Mark Twain Library fine-free | 10.5 | 51 | A |
| Bethel | Bethel Public Library | 7.0 | 53 | B− |
| Brookfield | Brookfield Library fine-free | 6.9 | 53 | C+ |
| New Fairfield | New Fairfield Free Public Library fine-free | 5.1 | 46 | B− |
| Southeast | Brewster Public Library fine-free | 3.2 | 52 | C |
| Danbury | Danbury Public Library | 3.2 | 51 | D |
| Ridgebury | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Taylor Corners | 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 Danbury
Does Danbury have a public library?
Yes. Danbury Public Library, 170 Main Street, serves 86,124 people in and around Danbury (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Danbury 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 Danbury’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 3.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Danbury’s civic life grade?
D Danbury is ahead of 7% of U.S. towns on civic life, #153 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 Danbury.
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.