Photo: The original uploader was Redjar at English Wikipedia. · CC BY-SA 3.0Chittenden’s library lends 0.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Chittenden Public serves Chittenden’s 1,405 residents. Last year it lent 1,017 print books and media and logged 2,620 visits.
What Chittenden’s library is like
Open only about 13 hours a week
Chittenden Public keeps short hours: about 13 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Brandon Free Public in Brandon, next door, is open about 40 hours a week. The building ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, Chittenden Public sits below the middle on all six per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Chittenden Public serves 1,405 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 ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
37% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 62%. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
Chittenden Public spends $21 per resident, less than 91% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Chittenden’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Chittenden is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns. Chittenden’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in Chittenden
9.5 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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.3%
7.3% of Chittenden’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 Chittenden’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Chittenden Public serves 1,405 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
1,017 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 2,944 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
42 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Chittenden last year.
Find it
Chittenden Public, Barstow School, Chittenden.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Chittenden? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Chittenden cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $29K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $22K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $29K 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 539 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Chittenden ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Killington | Sherburne Memorial fine-free | 21.3 | 40 | A |
| Pittsford | Maclure fine-free | 3.4 | 35 | A− |
| Chittenden | Chittenden Public fine-free | 0.7 | 13 | B |
| Rochester | Rochester Public | — | — | B+ |
| Pittsfield | Roger Clark Memorial | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Brandon | Brandon Free Public fine-free | — | 40 | A |
| Goshen | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Rutland | None of its own | — | — | C− |
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 Chittenden
Does Chittenden have a public library?
Yes. Chittenden Public, Barstow School, serves Chittenden’s 1,405 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 13 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Chittenden 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 Chittenden’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 0.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Chittenden’s civic life grade?
B Chittenden is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Chittenden.
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.