Bennington Village Historic District · Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Bennington’s library runs 189 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
G.E.P. Dodge Library serves Bennington’s 1,515 residents. Last year it lent 17K books, movies and e-books and logged 4,851 visits.
The short version on Bennington’s library
More library cards than residents
1,656 cards for 1,515 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
G.E.P. Dodge Library serves 1,515 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 33 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 ↓
Bennington out-borrows every town next door
At 11.3 loans per resident, Bennington leads the five towns here. The closest is Antrim, at 11.0. Libraries next door ↓
Most programs are for young children
67% of the 286 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.8 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
G.E.P. Dodge Library holds 30,000 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Bennington’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Bennington is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns. 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 →
3 community nonprofits are registered in Bennington
1.9 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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.9%
11.9% of Bennington’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.9% in the typical New Hampshire 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 4 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
G.E.P. Dodge Library serves 1,515 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
17K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Bennington’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 30K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
3,724 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
G.E.P. Dodge Library, 2 Main Street, Bennington.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
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 $1.92 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bennington cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $160K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $308K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $160K 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 1,656 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Bennington borrows the most per resident of the 5 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bennington | G.E.P. Dodge Library fine-free | 11.3 | 33 | B− |
| Antrim | James A. Tuttle Library fine-free | 11.0 | 32 | B+ |
| Francestown | George Holmes Bixby Memorial Library fine-free | 9.4 | 29 | A− |
| Hancock | Hancock Town Library fine-free | 7.6 | 32 | A |
| Greenfield | Stephenson Memorial Library fine-free | 7.3 | 30 | C+ |
| Deering | Deering Public Library | — | — | A− |
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. G.E.P. Dodge 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 Bennington
Does Bennington have a public library?
Yes. G.E.P. Dodge Library, 2 Main Street, serves Bennington’s 1,515 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is G.E.P. Dodge 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 3.2 visits and lent 11.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Bennington’s civic life grade?
B− Bennington is ahead of 48% 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.