Photo: Harrison Keely · CC BY 4.0Randolph’s library runs 83 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Kimball Public serves 5,878 people in and around Randolph. Last year it lent 42K books, movies and e-books and logged 24K visits.
The short version on Randolph’s library
The branch is a National Register landmark
Kimball Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1985. Today’s library there has 4,012 square feet. The building ↓
Most programs are for young children
70% of the 487 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.9 a week for ages 0–5. 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; Kimball Public serves 5,878 people in and around Randolph, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Randolph’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Randolph is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns, #42 of 71 in Vermont. Randolph’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls 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 →
36 community nonprofits are registered in Randolph
7.6 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.2%
7.2% of Randolph’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 Randolph’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 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Kimball Public serves 5,878 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 23 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Kimball Public system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
42K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
8,919 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
A National Register landmark since 1985
Kimball Public, 67 N. Main St., Randolph.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Kimball Public branch.
New in Randolph? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Kimball Public Library
Kimball Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Mar 14, 1985. It is significant for its architecture at the state level. Its architecture is described as Classical.
The Kimball Public Library is the public library serving Randolph, Vermont. It is located at 67 Main Street, just north of the town center, in an architecturally distinguished building donated by Col. Robert Kimball, a Randolph native. Built in 1902, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.82 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Randolph cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $360K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $654K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $360K 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 2,416 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royalton | Royalton Memorial fine-free | 2.9 | 36 | A− |
| Brookfield | Brookfield Free Public fine-free | 1.9 | 10 | B |
| Randolph | Kimball Public fine-free | — | 36 | B+ |
| Tunbridge | Tunbridge Public fine-free | — | 25 | A+ |
| Bethel | Bethel Public | — | — | A+ |
| Braintree | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Kimball Public counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Kimball Public serves 5,878 people in and around Randolph, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Randolph.
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 Randolph
Does Randolph have a public library?
Yes. Kimball Public, 67 N. Main St., serves 5,878 people in and around Randolph (the survey’s count) and is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Kimball 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 Randolph’s library?
It logged 4.0 visits and lent 7.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Randolph’s civic life grade?
B+ Randolph is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns on civic life, #42 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 Randolph.
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.