Photo: Hayden Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Waterbury’s library lends 1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Silas Bronson Library serves 114,990 people in and around Waterbury from 2 locations. Last year it lent 127K books, movies and e-books and logged 152K visits.
The short version on Waterbury’s library
Waterbury’s library system is used less than most libraries its size
Waterbury’s library system records 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people. Borrowing is 1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2. How it compares ↓
Every town next door borrows more
Waterbury’s library lends 1.1 items per resident. Each of the eight neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Cheshire at 11. Libraries next door ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Waterbury’s library system charges late fines on some overdue items. Five of the eight libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 58% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 88% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. What people borrow ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Waterbury’s library system holds 281,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. 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.
What’s behind Waterbury’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Waterbury is ahead of 5% of U.S. towns. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #340. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Waterbury’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($39K–$65K) 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 →
281 community nonprofits are registered in Waterbury
2.5 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 (146 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 13 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.3%
3.3% of Waterbury’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 Waterbury’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Silas Bronson Library serves 114,990 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
127K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 281K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
17,600 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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.
2 places to borrow in Waterbury
Silas Bronson Library, 267 Grand St., Waterbury.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Waterbury? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Waterbury
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Waterbury cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $2.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.6M 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 23,947 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Waterbury ranks 9th of 9 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheshire | Cheshire Public Library fine-free | 10.8 | 61 | B+ |
| Middlebury | Middlebury Public Library | 5.5 | 41 | C+ |
| Plymouth | Terryville Public Library fine-free | 4.4 | 39 | B− |
| Wolcott | Wolcott Public Library | 3.5 | 49 | C |
| Prospect | Prospect Public Library | 3.0 | 43 | C+ |
| Watertown | Watertown Library Association fine-free | 2.3 | 40 | C− |
| Oakville | Oakville Branch Library fine-free | 2.3 | 19 | — graded as part of its town |
| Naugatuck | Howard Whittemore Memorial Library fine-free | 1.8 | 40 | C+ |
| Waterbury | Silas Bronson Library | 1.1 | 56 | D− |
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 Waterbury
Does Waterbury have a public library?
Yes. Silas Bronson Library, 267 Grand St., serves 114,990 people in and around Waterbury (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Silas Bronson 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 Waterbury’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 1.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Waterbury’s civic life grade?
D− Waterbury is ahead of 5% 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 Waterbury.
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.