Photo: Farragutful · CC BY-SA 4.0Montpelier’s library logs 6.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Kellogg-Hubbard serves 18,225 people in and around Montpelier. Last year it lent 219K books, movies and e-books and logged 125K visits.
The short version on Montpelier’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
59% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 38%. What your card is worth ↓
One of the busiest library systems its size
Kellogg-Hubbard logs 6.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 9.8 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 89% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
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; Kellogg-Hubbard serves 18,225 people in and around Montpelier, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Montpelier’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Montpelier is among the top 1% of U.S. towns, #1 of 71 in Vermont. Montpelier is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs put Montpelier near the top nationally; Montpelier’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
204 community nonprofits are registered in Montpelier
25.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (14 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
12.6%
12.6% of Montpelier’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 Montpelier’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 91 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Kellogg-Hubbard system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Kellogg-Hubbard serves 18,225 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
219K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Montpelier’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
40,838 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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.
Find it
Kellogg-Hubbard, 135 Main St., Montpelier.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Kellogg-Hubbard branch.
New in Montpelier? 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 $3.41 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Montpelier cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.1M 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 7,727 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montpelier | Kellogg-Hubbard fine-free | — | 47 | A+ |
| Berlin | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| East Montpelier | None of its own | — | — | A+ |
| Middlesex | None of its own | — | — | B |
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. Kellogg-Hubbard serves 18,225 people in and around Montpelier, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Montpelier.
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 Montpelier
Does Montpelier have a public library?
Yes. Kellogg-Hubbard, 135 Main St., serves 18,225 people in and around Montpelier (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Kellogg-Hubbard 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 Montpelier’s library?
It logged 6.9 visits and lent 12.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Montpelier’s civic life grade?
A+ Montpelier is among the top 1% of U.S. towns on civic life, #1 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 Montpelier.
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.