Mountain View Stock Farm · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 3.0Benson’s library logs 0.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Benson Public serves Benson’s 770 residents. Last year it lent 591 print books and media and logged 100 visits.
The short version on Benson’s library
Benson Public is used less than most libraries its size
Benson Public records 0.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 0.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $12 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
Open only about 10 hours a week
Benson Public keeps short hours: about 10 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Castleton Free Library in Castleton, next door, is open about 28 hours a week. The building ↓
Every town next door borrows more
Benson’s library lends 0.8 items per resident. Each of the three neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Orwell at 4.4. Libraries next door ↓
A small-town library
Benson Public serves 770 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 ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 19% of the people Benson Public serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
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 Benson’s civic life grade
Benson isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Below most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Benson Public serves 770 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
591 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 Benson’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 5,278 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
10 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Benson Public, 2724 Stage Rd., Benson.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Benson? 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 $1.29 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Benson cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $9,018.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $12K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $9,018 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 146 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Benson ranks 4th of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orwell | Orwell Free Library fine-free | 4.4 | 25 | A |
| Fair Haven | Fair Haven Free Library fine-free | 2.6 | 27 | B |
| Castleton | Castleton Free Library fine-free | 1.6 | 28 | C+ |
| Benson | Benson Public fine-free | 0.8 | 10 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Putnam | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Dresden | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| West Haven | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Benson Public counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- 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 Benson
Does Benson have a public library?
Yes. Benson Public, 2724 Stage Rd., serves Benson’s 770 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 10 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Benson 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 Benson’s library?
It logged 0.1 visits and lent 0.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Benson’s civic life grade?
Benson isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Benson.
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.