Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Darien’s library lends 20 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Darien Library serves Darien’s 22,020 residents. Last year it lent 551K books, movies and e-books and logged 241K visits.
What Darien’s library is like
Darien borrows more library books per person than any town in Connecticut
Out of 123 Connecticut towns with a library of their own, Darien comes first for items borrowed per resident. It’s also #1 for kids’ borrowing and #6 for library use. How it compares ↓
Darien 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. That works out to about 38 items per child in Darien last year. Kids & programs ↓
Darien out-borrows every town next door
At 25 loans per resident, Darien leads the four towns here. The closest is New Canaan, at 14. Libraries next door ↓
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 ↓
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’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Darien is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns, #50 of 155 in Connecticut. 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 →
130 community nonprofits are registered in Darien
5.9 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 (9 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.
4.9%
4.9% of Darien’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 Darien’s residents live; 2022.
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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Darien last year.
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? 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 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
Darien borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darien | Darien Library | 25.0 | 72 | B+ |
| New Canaan | New Canaan Library | 13.6 | 63 | A− |
| Norwalk | Rowayton Library | 6.4 | 46 | C− |
| Stamford | Ferguson Library fine-free | 4.5 | 57 | C |
| 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
Does Darien have a public library?
Yes. Darien Library, 1441 Post Road, serves Darien’s 22,020 residents (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’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’s civic life grade?
B+ Darien is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns on civic life, #50 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 Darien.
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.