Photo: User:Dismas · Public domainMonkton’s library logs 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Russell Memorial serves Monkton’s 2,082 residents. Last year it lent 4,594 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,479 visits.
Monkton’s library, in brief
Russell Memorial is used less than most libraries its size
Russell Memorial records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 1.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $18 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
Open only about 16 hours a week
Russell Memorial keeps short hours: about 16 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Carpenter-Carse in Hinesburg, next door, is open about 46 hours a week. The building ↓
A small-town library
Russell Memorial serves 2,082 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
31% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 68%. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
Russell Memorial spends $18 per resident, less than 93% 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 Monkton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Monkton is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns. Monkton’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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Monkton
9.4 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.
10.1%
10.1% of Monkton’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 Monkton’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Russell Memorial serves 2,082 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
4,594 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Monkton’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 5,485 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
1,284 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
53 programs a year
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.
Find it
Russell Memorial, 92 Monkton Ridge, North Ferrisburgh.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Monkton? 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 $2.25 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Monkton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $37K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $84K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $37K 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 1,150 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Monkton ranks 4th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlotte | Charlotte fine-free | 11.8 | 43 | A |
| Bristol | Lawrence Memorial fine-free | 8.5 | 36 | A |
| New Haven | New Haven Community fine-free | 2.3 | 23 | B |
| Monkton | Russell Memorial fine-free | 2.2 | 16 | B+ |
| Starksboro | Starksboro Public fine-free | 1.6 | 20 | B− |
| Hinesburg | Carpenter-Carse fine-free | — | 46 | A− |
| Ferrisburgh | None of its own | — | — | A |
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Monkton
Does Monkton have a public library?
Yes. Russell Memorial, 92 Monkton Ridge, serves Monkton’s 2,082 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 16 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Russell 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 Monkton’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 2.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Monkton’s civic life grade?
B+ Monkton is ahead of 67% 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 Monkton.
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.