Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0Pownal’s library logs 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Solomon Wright Public serves Pownal’s 3,265 residents. Last year it lent 3,922 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,159 visits.
Pownal’s library, in brief
Solomon Wright Public is used less than most libraries its size
Solomon Wright Public records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $18 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
35% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 42%. What your card is worth ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Solomon Wright Public offered 26 programs last year, 8 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
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.
What’s behind Pownal’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Pownal is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns, #59 of 71 in Vermont. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($48K–$80K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
13 community nonprofits are registered in Pownal
4.0 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.3%
9.3% of Pownal’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 Pownal’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Solomon Wright Public serves 3,265 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
3,922 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Pownal’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 11K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
431 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
26 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Solomon Wright Public, 97 Main St., Pownal.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Pownal? 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 $1.25 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Pownal cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $58K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $73K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $58K 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 1,497 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Pownal ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petersburgh | Petersburgh Public Library | 9.2 | 24 | B− |
| Stamford | Stamford Community fine-free | 2.5 | 16 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Pownal | Solomon Wright Public fine-free | 1.2 | 26 | C+ |
| Bennington | Bennington Free Library fine-free | — | 40 | A |
| Woodford | 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 Pownal
Does Pownal have a public library?
Yes. Solomon Wright Public, 97 Main St., serves Pownal’s 3,265 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 26 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Solomon Wright Public 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 Pownal’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 1.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Pownal’s civic life grade?
C+ Pownal is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns on civic life, #59 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 Pownal.
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.