Photo: Wayne Blanchard (VtWayne at en.wikipedia) · CC BY-SA 3.0Bellows Falls’ library runs 175 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Rockingham Free Public serves 4,828 people in and around Bellows Falls. Last year it lent 21K print books and media and logged 13K visits.
The short version on Bellows Falls’s library
More library cards than residents
5,895 cards for 4,828 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Five times the programs of a typical library its size
Rockingham Free Public ran 847 programs last year, about 16 a week. That’s 175 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 12,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Rockingham Free Public serves more than Bellows Falls
The library’s service area covers 4,828 people in and around Bellows Falls, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
A place to get online
Rockingham Free Public logs about 117 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 8 public computers. That’s 8.8 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Rockingham Free Public holds 38,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years 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.
What’s behind Bellows Falls’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bellows Falls is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns, #26 of 71 in Vermont. Bellows Falls is graded on two of the three inputs. Bellows Falls’ count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
44 community nonprofits are registered in Bellows Falls
15.4 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 (7 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.
7.4%
7.4% of Bellows Falls’ Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.5% in the typical Vermont 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 Bellows Falls’ residents live; 2022.
847 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Rockingham Free Public serves 4,828 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
21K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Bellows Falls’ library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 38K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Rockingham Free Public, 65 Westminster St., Bellows Falls.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Bellows Falls? 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 $1.36 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bellows Falls cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $447K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $610K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $447K 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 5,895 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Bellows Falls ranks 2nd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walpole | Walpole Town Library fine-free | 8.7 | 36 | B+ |
| Bellows Falls | Rockingham Free Public fine-free | 4.4 | 42 | A− |
| Rockingham | Rockingham Free Public fine-free | 4.4 | 42 | B+ |
| Westminster | Butterfield fine-free | 3.6 | 17 | A+ |
| North Westminster | 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.
- Digital loans not reported. Vermont 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 Bellows Falls
Does Bellows Falls have a public library?
Yes. Rockingham Free Public, 65 Westminster St., serves 4,828 people in and around Bellows Falls (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rockingham Free Public 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 Bellows Falls’ library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 4.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Bellows Falls’ civic life grade?
A− Bellows Falls is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns on civic life, #26 of 71 in Vermont. 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 Bellows Falls.
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.