Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Stafford’s library logs 3.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Stafford Library serves Stafford’s 11,567 residents. Last year it lent 57K books, movies and e-books and logged 45K visits.
What’s behind Stafford’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Stafford is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns, #48 of 155 in Connecticut. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Stafford’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
38 community nonprofits are registered in Stafford
3.3 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
13.1%
13.1% of Stafford’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 Stafford’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Stafford Library serves 11,567 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 22 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
57K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 50K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
14,932 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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 Stafford last year.
Find it
Stafford Library, 10 Levinthal Run, Stafford.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Stafford? 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 $1.41 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Stafford cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $631K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $889K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $631K 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 3,254 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Stafford ranks 4th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Somers | Somers Public Library fine-free | 6.0 | 50 | B |
| Ellington | Hall Memorial Library | 5.6 | 53 | C+ |
| Union | Union Free Public Library | 4.9 | 14 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Stafford | Stafford Library | 4.9 | 49 | B+ |
| Stafford Springs | Stafford Library | 4.9 | 49 | — graded as part of its town |
| Monson | Monson Free Library & Reading Room fine-free | 3.6 | 37 | B− |
| Willington | Willington Public Library | — | — | C |
| Crystal Lake | 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 Stafford
Does Stafford have a public library?
Yes. Stafford Library, 10 Levinthal Run, serves Stafford’s 11,567 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Stafford 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 Stafford’s library?
It logged 3.9 visits and lent 4.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Stafford’s civic life grade?
B+ Stafford is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns on civic life, #48 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 Stafford.
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.