Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Brattleboro’s library logs 9.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Brooks Memorial serves Brattleboro’s 12,152 residents. Last year it lent 157K books, movies and e-books and logged 117K visits.
The short version on Brattleboro’s library
Brattleboro uses its library more than almost any town its size
Brooks Memorial logs 9.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 11 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 91% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Brattleboro out-borrows every town next door
At 13 loans per resident, Brattleboro leads the six towns here. The closest is Chesterfield, at 5.2. Libraries next door ↓
Top 10% in Vermont for borrowing
Brattleboro ranks #4 of 43 Vermont towns with a library of their own for items borrowed per resident. Print borrowing alone runs 11 items per resident, more than at 91% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Brooks Memorial charges late fines on some overdue items. All five libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 46% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 26 items per child in Brattleboro last year. 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 Brattleboro’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Brattleboro is among the top 1% of U.S. towns, #3 of 71 in Vermont. All three inputs put Brattleboro near the top nationally; Brattleboro’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 →
158 community nonprofits are registered in Brattleboro
13.0 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.
12.5%
12.5% of Brattleboro’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 Brattleboro’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 54 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Brooks Memorial serves 12,152 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
157K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 83K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 times last year, on average.
28,681 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Brattleboro last year.
Find it
Brooks Memorial, 224 Main St., Brattleboro.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Brattleboro? 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 $2.52 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Brattleboro cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.1M 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 8,554 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Brattleboro borrows the most per resident of the 6 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brattleboro | Brooks Memorial | 12.9 | 56 | A+ |
| Chesterfield | Chesterfield Public Library fine-free | 5.2 | 35 | B+ |
| Vernon | Vernon Free Library fine-free | 3.6 | 26 | C+ |
| Guilford | Guilford Free Library fine-free | 2.1 | 24 | A+ |
| Dummerston | Lydia Taft Pratt fine-free | 1.2 | 16 | B |
| Hinsdale | Hinsdale Public Library fine-free | 0.4 | 17 | C− |
| Marlboro | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Brattleboro
Does Brattleboro have a public library?
Yes. Brooks Memorial, 224 Main St., serves Brattleboro’s 12,152 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Brooks Memorial 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 Brattleboro’s library?
It logged 9.6 visits and lent 12.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Brattleboro’s civic life grade?
A+ Brattleboro is among the top 1% of U.S. towns on civic life, #3 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 Brattleboro.
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.