Photo: AirportExpert · CC BY-SA 4.0New Milford’s library runs 27 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
New Milford Public Library serves New Milford’s 28,276 residents. Last year it lent 132K books, movies and e-books and logged 84K visits.
The short version on New Milford’s library
Every town next door borrows more
New Milford’s library lends 4.7 items per resident. Each of the six neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Bridgewater at 11. Libraries next door ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
New Milford Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. All six libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
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 New Milford’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, New Milford is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns, #111 of 155 in Connecticut. New Milford’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($80K–$133K) 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 →
114 community nonprofits are registered in New Milford
4.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (18 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.
6.6%
6.6% of New Milford’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 New Milford’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
New Milford Public Library serves 28,276 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 89 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
132K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 72K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 time last year, on average.
26,706 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 New Milford last year.
Find it
New Milford Public Library, 24 Main St., New Milford.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in New Milford? 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 $1.92 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average New Milford cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.1M 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 7,905 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
New Milford ranks 7th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bridgewater | Burnham Library fine-free | 11.3 | 32 | A+ |
| Washington | Gunn Memorial Library fine-free | 8.5 | 37 | A |
| Brookfield | Brookfield Library fine-free | 6.9 | 53 | C+ |
| Kent | Kent Library Association fine-free | 6.8 | 45 | A+ |
| Sherman | Sherman Library Assn. fine-free | 6.7 | 34 | A |
| New Fairfield | New Fairfield Free Public Library fine-free | 5.1 | 46 | B− |
| New Milford | New Milford Public Library | 4.7 | 45 | C+ |
| Gaylordsville | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| New Preston | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Chimney Point | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Candlewood Lake Club | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 New Milford
Does New Milford have a public library?
Yes. New Milford Public Library, 24 Main St., serves New Milford’s 28,276 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is New Milford Public 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 New Milford’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 4.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is New Milford’s civic life grade?
C+ New Milford is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns on civic life, #111 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 New Milford.
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.