Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 4.0Glastonbury’s library logs 5.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Welles-Turner Memorial Library serves Glastonbury’s 35,204 residents. Last year it lent 387K books, movies and e-books and logged 178K visits.
The short version on Glastonbury’s library
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. That works out to about 24 items per child in Glastonbury last year. Kids & programs ↓
Glastonbury 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 ↓
Top 10% in Connecticut for kids’ borrowing
Glastonbury ranks #12 of 123 Connecticut towns with a library of their own for children’s items borrowed per child. How it compares ↓
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 buildings ↓
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’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Glastonbury is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns, #91 of 155 in Connecticut. Glastonbury is graded on two of the three inputs. Glastonbury’s count of community nonprofits holds 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 →
200 community nonprofits are registered in Glastonbury
5.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (22 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 15 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.9%
5.9% of Glastonbury’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 Glastonbury’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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Glastonbury last year.
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.
3 places to borrow in Glastonbury
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? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Glastonbury
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 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 ranks 4th of 11 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marlborough | Richmond Memorial Library fine-free | 12.8 | 49 | B+ |
| Portland | Portland Public Library | 11.8 | 49 | B+ |
| Manchester | Manchester Public Library fine-free | 11.6 | 66 | C |
| Glastonbury | Welles-Turner Memorial Library fine-free | 11.0 | 64 | B− |
| Glastonbury Center | Welles-Turner Memorial Library fine-free | 11.0 | 64 | — graded as part of its town |
| Rocky Hill | Cora J. Belden Library fine-free | 9.9 | 50 | B− |
| Cromwell | Cromwell Belden Public Library fine-free | 8.8 | 50 | B− |
| Wethersfield | Wethersfield Public Library | 8.7 | 55 | C+ |
| East Hampton | East Hampton Public Library fine-free | 8.2 | 49 | A− |
| Bolton | Bentley Memorial Library | 7.3 | 43 | B+ |
| 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
Does Glastonbury have a public library?
Yes. Welles-Turner Memorial Library, 2407 Main St., serves Glastonbury’s 35,204 residents (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’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’s civic life grade?
B− Glastonbury is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns on civic life, #91 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 Glastonbury.
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.