Photo: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY 4.0Derby’s library lends 6.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Dailey Memorial serves 2,857 people in and around Derby. Last year it lent 23K books, movies and e-books and logged 11K visits.
What Derby’s library is like
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
61% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 39%. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
74% of the 122 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.6 a week for ages 0–5. 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; Dailey Memorial serves 2,857 people in and around Derby, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Derby’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Derby is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns, #57 of 71 in Vermont. Derby is graded on two of the three inputs. Derby’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($60K–$100K) 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 →
25 community nonprofits are registered in Derby
5.5 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.1%
5.1% of Derby’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 Derby’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Dailey Memorial serves 2,857 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Dailey Memorial system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
23K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
4,331 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
2 places to borrow in Derby
Dailey Memorial, 101 Junior High Dr., Derby.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Dailey Memorial branch.
New in Derby? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Dailey Memorial branches in Derby
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.43 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Derby cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $102K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $351K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $102K 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 1,321 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Derby | Dailey Memorial fine-free | — | 35 | C+ |
| Newport | Goodrich Memorial fine-free | — | 44 | B+ |
| Charleston | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Holland | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Newport | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Brownington | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Coventry | 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.
- System-wide. Dailey Memorial serves 2,857 people in and around Derby, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Derby.
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 Derby
Does Derby have a public library?
Yes. Dailey Memorial, 101 Junior High Dr., serves 2,857 people in and around Derby (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dailey 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 Derby’s library?
It logged 4.0 visits and lent 8.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Derby’s civic life grade?
C+ Derby is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns on civic life, #57 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 Derby.
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.