Photo: Dmadeo · CC BY-SA 3.0Guilford’s library logs 7.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Guilford Free Library serves Guilford’s 22,020 residents. Last year it lent 290K books, movies and e-books and logged 169K visits.
What Guilford’s library is like
Guilford uses its library more than almost any town its size
Guilford Free Library logs 7.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 9.9 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 90% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Guilford Free Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Four of the six libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Top 10% in Connecticut for library use
Guilford ranks #12 of 123 Connecticut towns with a library of their own for visits per resident. That’s 7.7 visits per resident, more than at 92% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.3 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. It’s 25% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 48% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 23 items per child in Guilford last year. Kids & programs ↓
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 Guilford’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Guilford is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns, #10 of 155 in Connecticut. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
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 →
143 community nonprofits are registered in Guilford
6.5 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 (7 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.
9.1%
9.1% of Guilford’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 Guilford’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 92 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Guilford Free Library serves 22,020 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
290K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 113K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.9 times last year, on average.
72,759 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 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 Guilford last year.
Find it
Guilford Free Library, 67 Park St., Guilford.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Guilford? 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 $3.66 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Guilford cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.3M 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 8,545 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Guilford ranks 2nd of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Durham | Durham Public Library | 16.6 | 57 | A |
| Guilford | Guilford Free Library | 13.2 | 61 | A |
| Guilford Center | Guilford Free Library | 13.2 | 61 | — graded as part of its town |
| Madison | E.C. Scranton Memorial Library fine-free | 10.5 | 57 | A− |
| North Branford | North Branford Library Department fine-free | 8.0 | 54 | B− |
| Northford | Edward Smith Library fine-free | 8.0 | 54 | — graded as part of its town |
| Branford | James Blackstone Memorial Library fine-free | 7.5 | 62 | B+ |
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 Guilford
Does Guilford have a public library?
Yes. Guilford Free Library, 67 Park St., serves Guilford’s 22,020 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Guilford Free 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 Guilford’s library?
It logged 7.7 visits and lent 13.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Guilford’s civic life grade?
A Guilford is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns on civic life, #10 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 Guilford.
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.