Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 4.0West Dummerston’s library logs 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Lydia Taft Pratt serves 2,190 people in and around West Dummerston. Last year it lent 2,553 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,502 visits.
What West Dummerston’s library is like
Lydia Taft Pratt is used less than most libraries its size
Lydia Taft Pratt records 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 0.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $14 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
Open only about 16 hours a week
Lydia Taft Pratt keeps short hours: about 16 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Lydia Taft Pratt serves 2,190 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 ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
35% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 62%. What your card is worth ↓
Lydia Taft Pratt serves more than West Dummerston
The library’s service area covers 2,190 people in and around West Dummerston, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
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 West Dummerston’s civic life grade
West Dummerston isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Lydia Taft Pratt serves 2,190 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.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
2,553 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 6,033 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
825 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
37 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.
Find it
Lydia Taft Pratt, 150 West St., West Dummerston.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in West Dummerston? 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 $1.51 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average West Dummerston cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $30K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $45K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $30K 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 540 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 West Dummerston
Does West Dummerston have a public library?
Yes. Lydia Taft Pratt, 150 West St., serves 2,190 people in and around West Dummerston (the survey’s count) and is open about 16 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lydia Taft Pratt 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 West Dummerston’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 1.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is West Dummerston’s civic life grade?
West Dummerston isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in West Dummerston.
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.