Photo: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY-SA 4.0St. Johnsbury’s library runs 73 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
St. Johnsbury Athenaeum serves St. Johnsbury’s 7,381 residents. Last year it lent 37K books, movies and e-books and logged 38K visits.
The short version on St. Johnsbury’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
76% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 24%. What your card is worth ↓
Programs are almost all for children
84% of the 536 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 6.1 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
St. Johnsbury out-borrows every town next door
At 5.1 loans per resident, St. Johnsbury leads the four towns here. The closest is Barnet, at 3.9. Libraries next door ↓
Above typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, St. Johnsbury Athenaeum is above the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, with three in the top 30%. No single number stands out, and none lags far behind. How it compares ↓
A place to get online
St. Johnsbury Athenaeum logs about 192 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 8 public computers. That’s 9.5 sessions per resident a year. 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.
What’s behind St. Johnsbury’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, St. Johnsbury is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns, #27 of 71 in Vermont. St. Johnsbury’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 →
87 community nonprofits are registered in St. Johnsbury
11.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (11 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.
7.5%
7.5% of St. Johnsbury’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 St. Johnsbury’s residents live; 2022.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.27 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average St. Johnsbury cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $646K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $820K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $646K 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 3,361 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
St. Johnsbury Athenaeum serves 7,381 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
37K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 35K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
8,823 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 9 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 St. Johnsbury last year.
Find it
St. Johnsbury Athenaeum, 1171 Main St., St. Johnsbury.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in St. Johnsbury? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Libraries next door
St. Johnsbury borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
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. St. Johnsbury Athenaeum counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 St. Johnsbury
Does St. Johnsbury have a public library?
Yes. St. Johnsbury Athenaeum, 1171 Main St., serves St. Johnsbury’s 7,381 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is St. Johnsbury Athenaeum 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 St. Johnsbury’s library?
It logged 5.1 visits and lent 5.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is St. Johnsbury’s civic life grade?
A− St. Johnsbury is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns on civic life, #27 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 St. Johnsbury.
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.