Photo: Dismas · CC BY-SA 3.0New Haven’s library lends 2.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
New Haven Community serves New Haven’s 1,815 residents. Last year it lent 4,262 print books and media and logged 4,145 visits.
What New Haven’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, New Haven Community sits below the middle on all five per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
New Haven Community serves 1,815 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 23 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 New Haven’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, New Haven is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
9 community nonprofits are registered in New Haven
4.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: environment & animals.
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.
10.2%
10.2% of New Haven’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 New Haven’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.
New Haven Community serves 1,815 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.
Books and media off the shelf
4,262 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for New Haven’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
55 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
New Haven Community, 78 North St., Suite 2, New Haven.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in New Haven? 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 $1.37 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average New Haven cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $56K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $77K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $56K 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 571 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
New Haven ranks 3rd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Middlebury | Ilsley Public fine-free | 14.0 | 53 | 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+ |
| Weybridge | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Waltham | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Ferrisburgh | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Addison | 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.
- 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 New Haven
Does New Haven have a public library?
Yes. New Haven Community, 78 North St., Suite 2, serves New Haven’s 1,815 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 23 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is New Haven Community 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 New Haven’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 2.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is New Haven’s civic life grade?
B New Haven is ahead of 65% 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 New Haven.
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.