Photo: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY 4.0Craftsbury’s library logs 12 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Craftsbury Public serves Craftsbury’s 1,204 residents. Last year it lent 19K books, movies and e-books and logged 14K visits.
The short version on Craftsbury’s library
More library cards than residents
2,265 cards for 1,204 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
69% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 30%. What your card is worth ↓
Craftsbury uses its library more than almost any town its size
Craftsbury Public logs 12 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 13 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 92% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Craftsbury Public serves 1,204 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 35 hours a week. 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 ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 51% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 27 items per child in Craftsbury 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Craftsbury’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Craftsbury is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Craftsbury
5.5 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
28.4%
28.4% of Craftsbury’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 Craftsbury’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 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 under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Craftsbury Public serves 1,204 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
19K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 17K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
3,469 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 Craftsbury last year.
2 places to borrow in Craftsbury
Craftsbury Public, 12 Church Lane, Craftsbury Common.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Craftsbury? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Craftsbury
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.68 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Craftsbury cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $137K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $368K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $137K 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 2,265 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Craftsbury borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Craftsbury | Craftsbury Public fine-free | 15.6 | 35 | A+ |
| Hyde Park | Lanpher Memorial fine-free | 4.9 | 31 | A− |
| Albany | Albany Town fine-free | 1.1 | 14 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Wolcott | Glee Merritt Kelley Community | — | — | B− |
| Greensboro | Greensboro Free Library fine-free | — | 31 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Eden | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Craftsbury Public counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Craftsbury
Does Craftsbury have a public library?
Yes. Craftsbury Public, 12 Church Lane, serves Craftsbury’s 1,204 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Craftsbury 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 Craftsbury’s library?
It logged 11.8 visits and lent 15.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Craftsbury’s civic life grade?
A+ Craftsbury is ahead of 98% 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 Craftsbury.
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.