Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Stamford’s library logs 3.5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Ferguson Library serves 136,226 people in and around Stamford from 5 locations. Last year it lent 612K books, movies and e-books and logged 482K visits.
Stamford’s library, in brief
Programs lean toward adults
51% of the 1,922 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 862 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Five places to borrow in Stamford
Stamford’s library system runs five locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
Stamford invests in its library
Stamford’s library system spends $77 per resident a year, about twice the typical $36 for a library its size. Almost all of it (91%) comes from local taxes. 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 Stamford’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Stamford is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns, #128 of 155 in Connecticut. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #178. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($84K–$139K) 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 →
493 community nonprofits are registered in Stamford
3.6 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 (114 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 27 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.6%
4.6% of Stamford’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 Stamford’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 58 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Ferguson Library serves 136,226 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
612K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 282K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.6 times last year, on average.
150,417 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 17 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.
5 places to borrow in Stamford
Ferguson Library, 96 Broad Street, Stamford.
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 Stamford? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Stamford
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Stamford cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $9.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M 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 61,639 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Stamford ranks 6th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darien | Darien Library | 25.0 | 72 | B+ |
| Greenwich | Greenwich Library fine-free | 15.1 | 63 | B+ |
| New Canaan | New Canaan Library | 13.6 | 63 | A− |
| North Castle | North Castle Public Library fine-free | 10.5 | 47 | B+ |
| Pound Ridge | Pound Ridge Library District fine-free | 10.4 | 40 | B− |
| Stamford | Ferguson Library fine-free | 4.5 | 57 | C |
| Old Greenwich | Perrot Memorial Library fine-free | 2.1 | 59 | — graded as part of its town |
| Noroton | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Noroton Heights | 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 Stamford
Does Stamford have a public library?
Yes. Ferguson Library, 96 Broad Street, serves 136,226 people in and around Stamford (the survey’s count) and is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ferguson 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 Stamford’s library?
It logged 3.5 visits and lent 4.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Stamford’s civic life grade?
C Stamford is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns on civic life, #128 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 Stamford.
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.