Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 4.0Glastonbury Center’s library logs 5.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Welles-Turner Memorial Library serves 35,204 people in and around Glastonbury Center. Last year it lent 387K books, movies and e-books and logged 178K visits.
Glastonbury Center’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 58% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Glastonbury Center uses its library more than almost any town its size
Welles-Turner Memorial Library logs 5.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 8.9 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 86% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Glastonbury Center out-borrows every town next door
At 11.0 loans per resident, Glastonbury Center leads the four towns here. The closest is Glastonbury, at 11.0. Libraries next door ↓
Open about 64 hours a week
Welles-Turner Memorial Library is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 117 items go out. The building ↓
Welles-Turner Memorial Library serves more than Glastonbury Center
The library’s service area covers 35,204 people in and around Glastonbury Center, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
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 Glastonbury Center’s civic life grade
Glastonbury Center 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 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 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Welles-Turner Memorial Library serves 35,204 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 117 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
387K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 118K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.7 times last year, on average.
73,892 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Welles-Turner Memorial Library, 2407 Main St., Glastonbury.
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 Glastonbury Center? 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 $2.93 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Glastonbury Center cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2M 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 11,817 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Glastonbury Center 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glastonbury Center | Welles-Turner Memorial Library fine-free | 11.0 | 64 | — graded as part of its town |
| Glastonbury | Welles-Turner Memorial Library fine-free | 11.0 | 64 | B− |
| Wethersfield | Wethersfield Public Library | 8.7 | 55 | C+ |
| East Hartford | East Hartford Public Library fine-free | 1.7 | 55 | 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 Glastonbury Center
Does Glastonbury Center have a public library?
Yes. Welles-Turner Memorial Library, 2407 Main St., serves 35,204 people in and around Glastonbury Center (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Welles-Turner Memorial 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 Glastonbury Center’s library?
It logged 5.1 visits and lent 11.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Glastonbury Center’s civic life grade?
Glastonbury Center 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 Glastonbury Center.
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.