Kingsley Grist Mill Historic District · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 3.0Clarendon’s library logs 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Bailey Memorial serves Clarendon’s 2,557 residents. Last year it lent 1,651 print books and media and logged 2,004 visits.
What Clarendon’s library is like
Bailey Memorial is used less than most libraries its size
Bailey Memorial records 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $12 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 17% of the people Bailey Memorial serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Bailey Memorial spends $12 per resident, less than 94% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). 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.
What’s behind Clarendon’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Clarendon is ahead of 17% of U.S. towns. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Bailey Memorial spends $12 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($45K–$75K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
5 community nonprofits are registered in Clarendon
2.1 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.
8.4%
8.4% of Clarendon’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 Clarendon’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Bailey Memorial serves 2,557 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
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
1,651 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 14K 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.
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Clarendon last year.
Find it
Bailey Memorial, 111 Moulton Ave., N. Clarendon.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Clarendon? 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 Clarendon cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $30K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $27K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $30K 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 446 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Clarendon ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wallingford | Gilbert Hart fine-free | 2.3 | 28 | B+ |
| Shrewsbury | Shrewsbury fine-free | 1.2 | 18 | B− |
| Clarendon | Bailey Memorial fine-free | 0.6 | 25 | C− |
| Tinmouth | Tinmouth | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Rutland | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Ira | 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 Clarendon
Does Clarendon have a public library?
Yes. Bailey Memorial, 111 Moulton Ave., serves Clarendon’s 2,557 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 25 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bailey Memorial 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 Clarendon’s library?
It logged 0.8 visits and lent 0.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Clarendon’s civic life grade?
C− Clarendon is ahead of 17% 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 Clarendon.
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.