Photo: Beyond My Ken · CC BY-SA 4.0Guilford’s library lends 2.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Guilford Free Library serves Guilford’s 2,416 residents. Last year it lent 4,973 print books and media and drew 952 people to its programs.
What Guilford’s library is like
Every town next door borrows more
Guilford’s library lends 2.1 items per resident. Each of the three neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Brattleboro at 13. Libraries next door ↓
A small-town library
Guilford Free Library serves 2,416 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 24 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 ↓
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 Guilford’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Guilford is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so Guilford is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
The survey’s stand-in for Guilford’s 2024 visits carries forward a 2023 figure, so it is left out.
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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in Guilford
6.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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.
12.5%
12.5% of Guilford’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 Guilford’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Guilford Free Library serves 2,416 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
4,973 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 5,089 books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Guilford last year.
Find it
Guilford Free Library, 4024 Guilford Ctr Rd, Guilford.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Guilford? 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 $1.35 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Guilford cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $60K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $81K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $60K 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 887 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Guilford ranks 4th of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brattleboro | Brooks Memorial | 12.9 | 56 | A+ |
| Leyden | Robertson Memorial Library fine-free | 6.5 | 12 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Vernon | Vernon Free Library fine-free | 3.6 | 26 | C+ |
| Guilford | Guilford Free Library fine-free | 2.1 | 24 | A+ |
| Halifax | 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.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Guilford Free Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate carries forward its 2023 figure, so we leave it out and never rank it.
- 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 Guilford
Does Guilford have a public library?
Yes. Guilford Free Library, 4024 Guilford Ctr Rd, serves Guilford’s 2,416 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 24 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Guilford Free Library 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 Guilford’s library?
It lent 2.1 items per resident in 2024 (print) and ran 111 programs that drew 952 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Guilford’s civic life grade?
A+ Guilford is ahead of 96% 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 Guilford.
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.