Photo: Putneypics · CC BY 2.0Westminster’s library runs 2 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Butterfield serves Westminster’s 991 residents. Last year it lent 3,525 books, movies and e-books and drew 50 people to its programs.
Westminster’s library, in brief
Few programs for a library this size
Butterfield offered 2 programs last year, 2 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
Open only about 17 hours a week
Butterfield keeps short hours: about 17 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Rockingham Free Public in Rockingham, next door, is open about 42 hours a week. The buildings ↓
A small-town library
Butterfield serves 991 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 ↓
40% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 40% of loans, more per resident than at 62% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 60%. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Westminster’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Westminster is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns, #10 of 71 in Vermont. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so Westminster is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Westminster’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
The survey’s stand-in for Westminster’s 2024 visits is its own estimate, so it is left out.
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 →
22 community nonprofits are registered in Westminster
7.3 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.2%
11.2% of Westminster’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 Westminster’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Butterfield serves 991 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits, books & media on the shelves, library cards and funding. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
40% of borrowing is digital
3,525 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,422 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
2 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Westminster last year.
2 places to borrow in Westminster
Butterfield, 3534 Us Rte. 5, Westminster.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Westminster? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Westminster
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.09 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Westminster resident borrows (the library didn’t report its card count for 2024).
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $27K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $56K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $27K 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 resident’s month = the library’s yearly loans and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ the 991 people it serves ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Westminster ranks 5th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Putney | Putney Public fine-free | 11.6 | 41 | A+ |
| Walpole | Walpole Town Library fine-free | 8.7 | 36 | B+ |
| Rockingham | Rockingham Free Public fine-free | 4.4 | 42 | B+ |
| Bellows Falls | Rockingham Free Public fine-free | 4.4 | 42 | A− |
| Westminster | Butterfield fine-free | 3.6 | 17 | A+ |
| Westmoreland | Westmoreland Public Library fine-free | 3.5 | 20 | A |
| Athens | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| North Westminster | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Brookline | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Butterfield didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate is its own, so we leave it out and never rank it.
- Not reported for 2024: books & media on the shelves, library cards and funding. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
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 Westminster
Does Westminster have a public library?
Yes. Butterfield, 3534 Us Rte. 5, serves Westminster’s 991 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 17 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Butterfield 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 Westminster’s library?
It lent 3.6 items per resident in 2024 (print and digital) and ran 2 programs that drew 50 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Westminster’s civic life grade?
A+ Westminster is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns on civic life, #10 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 Westminster.
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.