Photo: Pollinator (Uploads) · CC BY-SA 3.0Middlebury’s library runs 130 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Pike Library serves Middlebury’s 975 residents. Last year it lent 5,841 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,053 visits.
Middlebury’s library, in brief
A small-town library
Pike Library serves 975 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 ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
Pike Library keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Warsaw Public Library in Warsaw, next door, is open about 41 hours a week. The buildings ↓
Programs lean toward adults
71% of the 127 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 33 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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 Middlebury’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Middlebury is ahead of 26% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Middlebury’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($64K–$107K) 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 →
4 community nonprofits are registered in Middlebury
3.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: health.
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.
6.3%
6.3% of Middlebury’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.4% in the typical New York 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 Middlebury’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Pike Library serves 975 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
5,841 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 11K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
732 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
127 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 Middlebury last year.
2 places to borrow in Middlebury
Pike Library, 65 West Main Street, Pike.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Middlebury? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Middlebury
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.96 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Middlebury cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $52K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $102K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $52K 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 216 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
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. Pike 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 Middlebury
Does Middlebury have a public library?
Yes. Pike Library, 65 West Main Street, serves Middlebury’s 975 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pike 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 Middlebury’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 6.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Middlebury’s civic life grade?
C Middlebury is ahead of 26% 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 Middlebury.
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.