Photo: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY-SA 4.0Stowe’s library lends 15 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Stowe Free Library serves Stowe’s 5,252 residents. Last year it lent 86K books, movies and e-books and logged 56K visits.
Stowe’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
7,203 cards for 5,252 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Stowe ranks 2nd in Vermont for borrowing
Out of 43 Vermont towns with a library of their own, Stowe comes 2nd for items borrowed per resident. How it compares ↓
Stowe uses its library more than almost any town its size
Stowe Free Library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 15 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 95% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 54% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 35 items per child in Stowe last year. Kids & programs ↓
Stowe invests in its library
Stowe Free Library spends $100 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (95%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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 Stowe’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Stowe is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns, #20 of 71 in Vermont. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Stowe’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
59 community nonprofits are registered in Stowe
11.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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.
7.8%
7.8% of Stowe’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 Stowe’s residents live; 2022.
About 2 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 Stowe last year.
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.
Stowe Free Library serves 5,252 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 40 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
86K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 29K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.7 times last year, on average.
8,211 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Stowe Free Library, 90 Pond St., Stowe.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Stowe? 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 $2.41 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Stowe cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $524K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $524K 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 7,203 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stowe | Stowe Free Library fine-free | 16.4 | 41 | A |
| Cambridge | Varnum Memorial fine-free | 2.4 | 38 | B− |
| Morristown | Morristown Centennial fine-free | — | 40 | A+ |
| Waterbury | Waterbury Public fine-free | — | 48 | A+ |
| Worcester | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Underhill | None of its own | — | — | B− |
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 Stowe
Does Stowe have a public library?
Yes. Stowe Free Library, 90 Pond St., serves Stowe’s 5,252 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Stowe Free Library 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 Stowe’s library?
It logged 10.7 visits and lent 16.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Stowe’s civic life grade?
A Stowe is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns on civic life, #20 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 Stowe.
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.