Photo: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY-SA 4.0Springfield’s library lends 2.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Springfield Town serves Springfield’s 9,088 residents. Last year it lent 33K books, movies and e-books and logged 23K visits.
Springfield’s library, in brief
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Springfield Town charges late fines on some overdue items. All four libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 16% of the people Springfield Town serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Springfield Town holds 44,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years last year. What people borrow ↓
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 Springfield’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Springfield is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns, #48 of 71 in Vermont. Springfield’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
58 community nonprofits are registered in Springfield
6.4 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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.0%
8.0% of Springfield’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 Springfield’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Springfield Town serves 9,088 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
33K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 44K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
7,036 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 kids’ programs a week
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 Springfield last year.
Find it
Springfield Town, 43 Main St., Springfield.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Springfield? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Springfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $694K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $576K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $694K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 1,455 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Springfield ranks 3rd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rockingham | Rockingham Free Public fine-free | 4.4 | 42 | B+ |
| Chester | Whiting fine-free | 4.4 | 29 | A− |
| Springfield | Springfield Town | 3.6 | 51 | B |
| Charlestown | Silsby Free Public Library fine-free | 1.6 | 30 | B− |
| Weathersfield | Weathersfield Proctor fine-free | 1.3 | 32 | C+ |
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 Springfield
Does Springfield have a public library?
Yes. Springfield Town, 43 Main St., serves Springfield’s 9,088 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Springfield Town fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Springfield’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 3.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Springfield’s civic life grade?
B Springfield is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns on civic life, #48 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 Springfield.
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.