Fredonia Commons Historic District · Photo: Generic1139 · CC BY 3.0Pomfret’s library logs 4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Darwin R. Barker Library Association serves 9,585 people in and around Pomfret. Last year it lent 38K print books and media and logged 38K visits.
Pomfret’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
93% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 7%. What your card is worth ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Darwin R. Barker Library Association charges late fines on some overdue items. Two of the three libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Pomfret out-borrows every town next door
At 3.9 loans per resident, Pomfret leads the four towns here. The closest is Fredonia, at 3.9. Libraries next door ↓
Most programs are for young children
74% of the 164 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.2 a week for ages 0–5. 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.
What’s behind Pomfret’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Pomfret is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns, #279 of 751 in New York. Pomfret is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Pomfret’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 →
47 community nonprofits are registered in Pomfret
3.7 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 (16 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.8%
8.8% of Pomfret’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 Pomfret’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Darwin R. Barker Library Association serves 9,585 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 22 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
38K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 48K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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.
Find it
Darwin R. Barker Library Association, 7 Day Street, Fredonia.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Pomfret? 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 $1.49 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Pomfret cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $408K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $606K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $408K 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 7,603 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Pomfret borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pomfret | Darwin R. Barker Library Association | 3.9 | 34 | B |
| Fredonia | Darwin R. Barker Library Association | 3.9 | 34 | B+ |
| Portland | Ahira Hall Memorial Library fine-free | 2.2 | 34 | B |
| Stockton | Mary E. Seymour Memorial Free Library fine-free | 2.1 | 16 | B− |
| Dunkirk | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Arkwright | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Sheridan | None of its own | — | — | C |
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.
- Digital loans not reported. New York libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Pomfret
Does Pomfret have a public library?
Yes. Darwin R. Barker Library Association, 7 Day Street, serves 9,585 people in and around Pomfret (the survey’s count) and is open about 34 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Darwin R. Barker Library Association 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 Pomfret’s library?
It logged 4.0 visits and lent 3.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Pomfret’s civic life grade?
B Pomfret is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns on civic life, #279 of 751 in New York. 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 Pomfret.
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.