Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 4.0Simsbury’s library logs 13 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Simsbury Public Library serves Simsbury’s 24,953 residents. Last year it lent 473K books, movies and e-books and logged 316K visits.
What Simsbury’s library is like
Simsbury ranks 2nd in Connecticut for borrowing
Out of 123 Connecticut towns with a library of their own, Simsbury comes 2nd for items borrowed per resident. It’s also #3 for library use and #3 for kids’ borrowing. How it compares ↓
Simsbury uses its library more than almost any town its size
Simsbury Public Library logs 13 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 16 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 98% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 56% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 35 items per child in Simsbury last year. Kids & programs ↓
Simsbury out-borrows every town next door
At 19 loans per resident, Simsbury leads the six towns here. The closest is Avon, at 16. Libraries next door ↓
Programs draw a crowd
37,000 people came to the library’s 1,131 programs last year: 1.5 per resident, against a typical 0.4, more than at 96% of similar-size libraries. 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 Simsbury’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Simsbury is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns, #22 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 →
134 community nonprofits are registered in Simsbury
5.4 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 (14 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.
7.7%
7.7% of Simsbury’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 Simsbury’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 145 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Simsbury Public Library serves 24,953 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
473K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 97K books and other items on the shelves went out about 4 times last year, on average.
81,918 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 10 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 Simsbury last year.
Find it
Simsbury Public Library, 725 Hopmeadow St., Simsbury.
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 Simsbury? 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 $3.09 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Simsbury cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $2.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $7.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.3M 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 14,156 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Simsbury borrows the most per resident of the 6 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simsbury | Simsbury Public Library fine-free | 19.0 | 63 | A |
| Avon | Avon Free Public Library fine-free | 15.6 | 57 | A− |
| Canton | Canton Public Library fine-free | 13.9 | 49 | A− |
| Granby | Granby Public Library fine-free | 8.4 | 45 | B+ |
| East Granby | East Granby Public Library fine-free | 6.0 | 46 | A |
| Bloomfield | Bloomfield Public Library fine-free | 3.5 | 40 | C |
| Tariffville | 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.
- 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 Simsbury
Does Simsbury have a public library?
Yes. Simsbury Public Library, 725 Hopmeadow St., serves Simsbury’s 24,953 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 63 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Simsbury Public 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 Simsbury’s library?
It logged 12.6 visits and lent 19.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Simsbury’s civic life grade?
A Simsbury is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns on civic life, #22 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 Simsbury.
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.