Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Montville’s library logs 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Raymond Library serves Montville’s 17,814 residents. Last year it lent 42K books, movies and e-books and logged 12K visits.
The short version on Montville’s library
Every town next door borrows more
Montville’s library lends 2.4 items per resident. Each of the five neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Waterford at 9.2. Libraries next door ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
45% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 54%. What your card is worth ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 74% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 56% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Most programs are for young children
77% of the 242 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.5 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 Montville’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Montville is ahead of 23% of U.S. towns, #134 of 155 in Connecticut. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Raymond Library spends $13 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size, and its 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($72K–$121K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
48 community nonprofits are registered in Montville
2.7 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.9%
8.9% of Montville’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 Montville’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Raymond Library serves 17,814 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 28 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
42K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 23K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.7 times last year, on average.
5,051 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Montville last year.
Find it
Raymond Library, 832 Raymond Hill Rd., Montville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Montville? 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 $2.81 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Montville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $233K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $654K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $233K 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 5,258 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Montville ranks 6th of 6 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+ |
| Ledyard | Ledyard Public Libraries fine-free | 6.9 | 51 | B |
| Gales Ferry | Gales Ferry Public Library fine-free | 6.9 | 45 | — graded as part of its town |
| Preston | Preston Public Library fine-free | 3.2 | 31 | B− |
| Norwich | Otis Library fine-free | 2.5 | 44 | C+ |
| Montville | Raymond Library fine-free | 2.4 | 29 | C− |
| Salem | Salem Free Public Library | — | 40 | B+ |
| Bozrah | None of its own | — | — | A |
| 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Raymond Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Montville
Does Montville have a public library?
Yes. Raymond Library, 832 Raymond Hill Rd., serves Montville’s 17,814 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 29 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Raymond 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 Montville’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 2.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Montville’s civic life grade?
C− Montville is ahead of 23% of U.S. towns on civic life, #134 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 Montville.
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.