Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 4.0Marlborough’s library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Richmond Memorial Library serves Marlborough’s 6,106 residents. Last year it lent 78K books, movies and e-books and logged 32K visits.
What Marlborough’s library is like
Marlborough is a town of borrowers
Richmond Memorial Library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 93% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Marlborough out-borrows every town next door
At 13 loans per resident, Marlborough leads the five towns here. The closest is Glastonbury, at 11. Libraries next door ↓
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 92% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 22 items per child in Marlborough last year. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
68% of the 378 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.8 a week for ages 0–5. 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 Marlborough’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Marlborough is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns, #41 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 →
24 community nonprofits are registered in Marlborough
3.9 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.1%
9.1% of Marlborough’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 Marlborough’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 Marlborough last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Richmond Memorial Library serves 6,106 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
78K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 40K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.7 times last year, on average.
11,325 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
Find it
Richmond Memorial Library, 15 School Dr., Marlborough.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting.
New in Marlborough? 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 $2.61 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Marlborough cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $461K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $461K 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 2,298 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Marlborough borrows the most per resident of the 5 towns here. 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+ |
| Glastonbury | Welles-Turner Memorial Library fine-free | 11.0 | 64 | B− |
| Colchester | Cragin Memorial Library | 9.3 | 49 | B+ |
| East Hampton | East Hampton Public Library fine-free | 8.2 | 49 | A− |
| Hebron | Douglas Library of Hebron | 7.7 | 45 | 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 Marlborough
Does Marlborough have a public library?
Yes. Richmond Memorial Library, 15 School Dr., serves Marlborough’s 6,106 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Richmond Memorial Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Marlborough’s library?
It logged 5.2 visits and lent 12.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Marlborough’s civic life grade?
B+ Marlborough is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns on civic life, #41 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 Marlborough.
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.