Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, New York, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0Starksboro’s library logs 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Starksboro Public serves Starksboro’s 1,883 residents. Last year it lent 2,962 print books and media and logged 2,292 visits.
Starksboro’s library, in brief
Starksboro Public is used less than most libraries its size
Starksboro Public records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 1.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $22 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
Every town next door borrows more
Starksboro’s library lends 1.6 items per resident. Each of the four neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Huntington at 12. Libraries next door ↓
A small-town library
Starksboro Public serves 1,883 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
Starksboro Public keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Carpenter-Carse in Hinesburg, next door, is open about 46 hours a week. The building ↓
Programs lean toward adults
56% of the 107 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 38 were for children. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Starksboro’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Starksboro is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns. Starksboro’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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Starksboro
5.9 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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.1%
8.1% of Starksboro’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 Starksboro’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Starksboro Public serves 1,883 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
2,962 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 6,158 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
107 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 Starksboro last year.
Find it
Starksboro Public, 2827 Rte. 116, Starksboro.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Starksboro? 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 $1.36 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Starksboro cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $42K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $57K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $42K 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 587 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Starksboro ranks 5th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Huntington | Huntington Public fine-free | 11.6 | 23 | B+ |
| Lincoln | Lincoln fine-free | 9.2 | 27 | A |
| Bristol | Lawrence Memorial fine-free | 8.5 | 36 | A |
| Monkton | Russell Memorial fine-free | 2.2 | 16 | B+ |
| Starksboro | Starksboro Public fine-free | 1.6 | 20 | B− |
| Hinesburg | Carpenter-Carse fine-free | — | 46 | 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.
- Digital loans not reported. Vermont libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Starksboro
Does Starksboro have a public library?
Yes. Starksboro Public, 2827 Rte. 116, serves Starksboro’s 1,883 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Starksboro 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 Starksboro’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 1.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Starksboro’s civic life grade?
B− Starksboro is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Starksboro.
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.