Sterling Opera House · Photo: Own work · CC BY-SA 3.0Derby’s library runs 49 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Derby Neck Library serves 12,406 people in and around Derby. Last year it lent 26K books, movies and e-books and logged 34K visits.
What Derby’s library is like
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
99% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 0%. What your card is worth ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 8% of the people Derby Neck Library serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Derby Neck Library holds 59,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 8% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 92% 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 Derby’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Derby is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns, #138 of 155 in Connecticut. Derby is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Derby’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($60K–$99K) 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 →
40 community nonprofits are registered in Derby
3.2 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. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.6%
5.6% of Derby’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 Derby’s residents live; 2022.
About 5 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 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Derby Neck Library serves 12,406 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
26K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 59K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
2,015 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
2 places to borrow in Derby
Derby Neck Library, 307 Hawthorne Avenue, Derby.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Derby? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Derby
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Derby cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $643K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $446K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $643K 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 946 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Derby ranks 5th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woodbridge | Woodbridge Town Library fine-free | 17.1 | 51 | A |
| Orange | Case Memorial Library fine-free | 10.1 | 53 | B |
| Shelton | Plumb Memorial Library fine-free | 3.8 | 37 | C |
| Seymour | Seymour Public Library fine-free | 3.4 | 41 | C |
| Derby | Derby Neck Library fine-free | 2.1 | 46 | C− |
| Ansonia | Ansonia Library fine-free | 1.3 | 47 | D |
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 Derby
Does Derby have a public library?
Yes. Derby Neck Library, 307 Hawthorne Avenue, serves 12,406 people in and around Derby (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Derby Neck 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 Derby’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 2.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Derby’s civic life grade?
C− Derby is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns on civic life, #138 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 Derby.
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.