Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 4.0Danbury’s library logs 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
George Gamble Library serves Danbury’s 1,271 residents. Last year it lent 1,479 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,132 visits.
The short version on Danbury’s library
George Gamble Library is used less than most libraries its size
George Gamble Library records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 1.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $12 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
George Gamble Library offered 0 programs last year, 0 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60.
Open only about 10 hours a week
George Gamble Library keeps short hours: about 10 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Hill Public Library in Hill, next door, is open about 32 hours a week. The building ↓
A small-town library
George Gamble Library serves 1,271 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 16% of the people George Gamble Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
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 Danbury’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Danbury is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Danbury’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
George Gamble Library spends $12 per resident, against a typical $54 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($54K–$90K) 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 →
5 community nonprofits are registered in Danbury
3.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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.
3.7%
3.7% of Danbury’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 Danbury’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
George Gamble Library serves 1,271 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1,479 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 6,770 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
25 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
George Gamble Library, 29 Route 104, Danbury.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Danbury? 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 $1.71 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Danbury cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $15K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $25K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $15K 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 208 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Danbury ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wilmot | Wilmot Public Library fine-free | 6.3 | 23 | C+ |
| Hill | Hill Public Library fine-free | 4.6 | 32 | C |
| Danbury | George Gamble Library fine-free | 1.2 | 10 | D |
| Grafton | Grafton Public Library | — | — | B+ |
| Alexandria | None of its own | — | — | 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.
- 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 Danbury
Does Danbury have a public library?
Yes. George Gamble Library, 29 Route 104, serves Danbury’s 1,271 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 10 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is George Gamble 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 Danbury’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 1.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Danbury’s civic life grade?
D Danbury is ahead of 9% 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 Danbury.
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.