Ackerhurst-Eipperhurst Dairy Barn · Photo: PhotoMary · CC BY-SA 3.0Bennington’s library lends 26 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Bennington Public Library serves 4,569 people in and around Bennington. Last year it lent 145K books, movies and e-books and logged 43K visits.
The short version on Bennington’s library
More library cards than residents
6,329 cards for 4,569 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
One of the busiest library systems its size
Bennington Public Library logs 9.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 26 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 93% 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 84% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Bennington Public Library ran 494 programs last year, about 10 a week. That’s 108 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 13,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 5.3 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. It’s 17% of all loans. 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; Bennington Public Library serves 4,569 people in and around Bennington, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Bennington’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bennington is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns. Bennington is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Bennington’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 →
8 community nonprofits are registered in Bennington
3.2 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.1%
8.1% of Bennington’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.9% in the typical Nebraska 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 Bennington’s residents live; 2022.
About 7 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Bennington Public Library serves 4,569 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 76 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bennington Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
145K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
24,351 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Bennington Public Library, 11401 N 156th St., Bennington.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Bennington Public Library branch.
New in Bennington? 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 $6.42 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bennington cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $322K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $322K 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 6,329 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Bennington Public Library serves 4,569 people in and around Bennington, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bennington.
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 Bennington
Does Bennington have a public library?
Yes. Bennington Public Library, 11401 N 156th St., serves 4,569 people in and around Bennington (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bennington 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 Bennington’s library?
It logged 9.4 visits and lent 31.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Bennington’s civic life grade?
B− Bennington is ahead of 46% 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 Bennington.
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.