Darien Downtown’s library lends 20 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Darien Library serves 22,020 people in and around Darien Downtown. Last year it lent 551K books, movies and e-books and logged 241K visits.
What Darien Downtown’s library is like
Darien Downtown uses its library more than almost any town its size
Darien Library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 20 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 98% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 57% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4.6 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. It’s 18% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Darien Downtown invests in its library
Darien Library spends $257 per resident a year, about six times the typical $43 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
Open about 72 hours a week
Darien Library is open about 72 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 146 items go out. The building ↓
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 Darien Downtown’s civic life grade
Darien Downtown isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
About 11 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Darien Library serves 22,020 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 146 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
551K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 125K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.6 times last year, on average.
101,109 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Darien Library, 1441 Post Road, Darien.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Darien Downtown? 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 $1.54 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Darien Downtown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $5.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $8.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.7M 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 11,948 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darien Downtown | Darien Library | 25.0 | 72 | — graded as part of its town |
| Noroton | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Tokeneke | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Noroton Heights | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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 Darien Downtown
Does Darien Downtown have a public library?
Yes. Darien Library, 1441 Post Road, serves 22,020 people in and around Darien Downtown (the survey’s count) and is open about 72 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Darien 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 Darien Downtown’s library?
It logged 10.9 visits and lent 25.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Darien Downtown’s civic life grade?
Darien Downtown isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Darien Downtown.
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.