Stamford’s library runs 93 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Stamford Library serves 2,505 people in and around Stamford. Last year it lent 15K books, movies and e-books and logged 12K visits.
Stamford’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
61% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 38%. What your card is worth ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Stamford Library charges late fines on some overdue items. All three libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
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; Stamford Library serves 2,505 people in and around Stamford, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Stamford’s civic life grade
Stamford isn’t graded on civic life: its library is a branch of Stamford Library, so there is no town figure for visits and the volunteering estimate doesn’t cover enough of 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 →
20 community nonprofits are registered in Stamford
10.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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.
About 2 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 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Stamford Library serves 2,505 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Stamford Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
15K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,556 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Stamford Library, 117 Main Street, Stamford.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Stamford Library branch.
New in Stamford? 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 $1.58 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Stamford cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $186K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $295K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $186K 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 1,431 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.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delhi | Cannon Free Library fine-free | 3.8 | 36 | A− |
| Bovina | Bovina Public Library fine-free | 2.9 | 20 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Roxbury | Roxbury Library Association fine-free | 1.3 | 25 | A+ |
| Stamford | Stamford Library | — | 33 | — too few inputs |
| Kortright | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
| Harpersfield | None of its own | — | — | A+ |
| Bloomville | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- System-wide. Stamford Library serves 2,505 people in and around Stamford, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Stamford.
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 Stamford
Does Stamford have a public library?
Yes. Stamford Library, 117 Main Street, serves 2,505 people in and around Stamford (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Stamford 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 Stamford’s library?
It logged 5.0 visits and lent 5.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Stamford’s civic life grade?
Stamford isn’t graded on civic life: its library is a branch of Stamford Library, so there is no town figure for visits and the volunteering estimate doesn’t cover enough of it. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Stamford.
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.