Photo: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY-SA 4.0Morristown’s library runs 146 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Morristown Centennial serves 6,603 people in and around Morristown. Last year it lent 42K books, movies and e-books and logged 58K visits.
The short version on Morristown’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
57% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 43%. What your card is worth ↓
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Morristown Centennial ran 965 programs last year, about 19 a week. That’s 146 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 9,532 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Visits are the system’s strong suit
Morristown Centennial logs 8.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 92% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 4.7 print items per resident. 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; Morristown Centennial serves 6,603 people in and around Morristown, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Morristown’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Morristown is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns, #7 of 71 in Vermont. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Morristown’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 →
64 community nonprofits are registered in Morristown
11.2 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.9%
9.9% of Morristown’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 Morristown’s residents live; 2022.
About 7 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Morristown Centennial serves 6,603 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 20 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Morristown Centennial system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
42K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Morristown’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
11,301 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Morristown Centennial, 7 Richmond St., Morrisville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Morristown Centennial branch.
New in Morristown? 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 $2.78 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Morristown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $312K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $869K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $312K 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 3,064 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stowe | Stowe Free Library fine-free | 16.4 | 41 | A |
| Hyde Park | Lanpher Memorial fine-free | 4.9 | 31 | A− |
| Hyde Park | Lanpher Memorial fine-free | 4.9 | 31 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Johnson | Johnson Public fine-free | 2.9 | 32 | C+ |
| Cambridge | Varnum Memorial fine-free | 2.4 | 38 | B− |
| Morristown | Morristown Centennial fine-free | — | 40 | A+ |
| Elmore | 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.
- System-wide. Morristown Centennial serves 6,603 people in and around Morristown, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Morristown.
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 Morristown
Does Morristown have a public library?
Yes. Morristown Centennial, 7 Richmond St., serves 6,603 people in and around Morristown (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Morristown Centennial 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 Morristown’s library?
It logged 8.8 visits and lent 6.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Morristown’s civic life grade?
A+ Morristown is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns on civic life, #7 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 Morristown.
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.