Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 4.0Warren’s library runs 9.5 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Warren Public Library serves Warren’s 1,367 residents. Last year it lent 6,724 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,850 visits.
Warren’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
54% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 44%. What your card is worth ↓
Every town next door borrows more
Warren’s library lends 4.9 items per resident. Each of the four neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Litchfield at 15. Libraries next door ↓
A small-town library
Warren Public Library serves 1,367 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 27 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
40% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 40% of loans, more per resident than at 73% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 60%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Warren’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Warren is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns. Warren’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
13 community nonprofits are registered in Warren
9.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: environment & animals.
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.0%
10.0% of Warren’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 Warren’s residents live; 2022.
40% of borrowing is digital
6,724 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
2,715 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Warren Public Library serves 1,367 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
13 programs a year
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 Warren last year.
Find it
Warren Public Library, 15 Sackett Hill Rd., Warren.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Warren? 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 $1.75 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Warren cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $63K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $110K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $63K 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 346 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Warren ranks 5th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Litchfield | Oliver Wolcott Library fine-free | 14.9 | 48 | A+ |
| Washington | Gunn Memorial Library fine-free | 8.5 | 37 | A |
| Cornwall | Cornwall Library Association fine-free | 7.3 | 32 | A+ |
| Kent | Kent Library Association fine-free | 6.8 | 45 | A+ |
| Warren | Warren Public Library fine-free | 4.9 | 27 | A− |
| New Preston | 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. Warren Public 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 Warren
Does Warren have a public library?
Yes. Warren Public Library, 15 Sackett Hill Rd., serves Warren’s 1,367 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 27 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Warren 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 Warren’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 4.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Warren’s civic life grade?
A− Warren is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Warren.
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.