Photo: CharlusIngus at English Wikipedia · Public domainGales Ferry’s library lends 5.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Ledyard Public Libraries serves 15,459 people in and around Gales Ferry. Last year it lent 106K books, movies and e-books and logged 42K visits.
What stands out about Gales Ferry’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Gales Ferry’s civic life grade
Gales Ferry 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Ledyard Public Libraries serves 15,459 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 21 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
106K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 58K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.
27,657 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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.
Find it
Gales Ferry Public Library, 18 Hurlbutt Rd., Ledyard.
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 Gales Ferry? 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 $2.20 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Gales Ferry cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $761K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $761K 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 4,012 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Gales Ferry ranks 2nd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waterford | Waterford Public Library | 9.2 | 61 | B+ |
| Gales Ferry | Gales Ferry Public Library fine-free | 6.9 | 45 | — graded as part of its town |
| Ledyard | Ledyard Public Libraries fine-free | 6.9 | 51 | B |
| Montville | Raymond Library fine-free | 2.4 | 29 | C− |
| Oxoboxo River | 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 Gales Ferry
Does Gales Ferry have a public library?
Yes. Ledyard Public Libraries, 18 Hurlbutt Rd., serves 15,459 people in and around Gales Ferry (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ledyard Public Libraries 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 Gales Ferry’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 6.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Gales Ferry’s civic life grade?
Gales Ferry 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 Gales Ferry.
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.