Photo: Jared and Corin · CC BY-SA 2.0Pomfret’s library runs 21 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Abbott Memorial serves Pomfret’s 846 residents. Last year it lent 3,811 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,136 visits.
Pomfret’s library, in brief
A small-town library
Abbott Memorial serves 846 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 ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
Abbott Memorial keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Norman Williams Public in Woodstock, next door, is open about 47 hours a week. The building ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Abbott Memorial Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2015. Today’s library there has 1,272 square feet. The building ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
27% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 71%. 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 Pomfret’s civic life grade
Pomfret isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
A National Register landmark since 2015
Abbott Memorial, Library St. & Stage Rd., S. Pomfret.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Pomfret? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Abbott Memorial Library
Abbott Memorial Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jan 6, 2015. It is significant for its architecture and education at the local level.
The Abbott Memorial Library is the public library serving the village of South Pomfret, Vermont. It is located at 15 Library Street, in an architecturally distinguished building constructed in 1905 through a bequest of the local Abbott family. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Abbott Memorial serves 846 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.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
3,811 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 6,259 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
1,265 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
18 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Pomfret last year.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Pomfret cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $60K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $60K 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 305 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Pomfret ranks 4th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woodstock | Norman Williams Public fine-free | 10.7 | 47 | A+ |
| Hartford | Quechee fine-free | 5.9 | 38 | A |
| Sharon | Baxter Memorial fine-free | 4.6 | 22 | A |
| Pomfret | Abbott Memorial fine-free | 4.5 | 20 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Royalton | Royalton Memorial fine-free | 2.9 | 36 | A− |
| Barnard | Charles B. Danforth | — | — | A+ |
| Bridgewater | 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.
- 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 Pomfret
Does Pomfret have a public library?
Yes. Abbott Memorial, Library St. & Stage Rd., serves Pomfret’s 846 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Abbott 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 Pomfret’s library?
It logged 2.5 visits and lent 4.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Pomfret’s civic life grade?
Pomfret isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Pomfret.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.