Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Bennington’s library logs 5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Bennington Free Library serves 16,261 people in and around Bennington. Last year it lent 46K books, movies and e-books and logged 82K visits.
The short version on Bennington’s library
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 78% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 25%. The building also logs about 169 Wi-Fi sessions a day. A year at the library ↓
Most programs are for young children
75% of the 168 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.3 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; Bennington Free Library serves 16,261 people in and around Bennington, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Bennington’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bennington is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns, #14 of 71 in Vermont. Bennington is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Bennington’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
116 community nonprofits are registered in Bennington
7.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.2%
10.2% of Bennington’s 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 Bennington’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Bennington Free Library serves 16,261 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 22 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bennington Free Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
46K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
12,268 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. 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, 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.
2 places to borrow in Bennington
Bennington Free Library, 101 Silver St., Bennington.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Bennington Free Library branch.
New in Bennington? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Bennington Free Library branches in Bennington
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.42 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bennington cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $646K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $917K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $646K 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 4,713 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petersburgh | Petersburgh Public Library | 9.2 | 24 | B− |
| Hoosick | Cheney Library fine-free | 4.0 | 38 | B+ |
| Pownal | Solomon Wright Public fine-free | 1.2 | 26 | C+ |
| Bennington | Bennington Free Library fine-free | — | 40 | A |
| Woodford | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Shaftsbury | 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.
- System-wide. Bennington Free Library serves 16,261 people in and around Bennington, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bennington.
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 Bennington
Does Bennington have a public library?
Yes. Bennington Free Library, 101 Silver St., serves 16,261 people in and around Bennington (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bennington Free 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 Bennington’s library?
It logged 5.0 visits and lent 2.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Bennington’s civic life grade?
A Bennington is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on civic life, #14 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 Bennington.
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.