Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0Newington’s library runs 31 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Lucy Robbins Welles Library serves Newington’s 31,227 residents. Last year it lent 249K books, movies and e-books and logged 125K visits.
What stands out about Newington’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Newington’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Newington is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns, #113 of 155 in Connecticut. Library visits hold the grade up; Newington’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($77K–$129K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
91 community nonprofits are registered in Newington
3.0 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 (16 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.7%
6.7% of Newington’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.5% in the typical Connecticut 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 Newington’s residents live; 2022.
About 8 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 Newington last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Lucy Robbins Welles Library serves 31,227 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 93 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
249K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 161K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.
35,772 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Lucy Robbins Welles Library, 100 Garfield St., Newington.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Newington? 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 $1.27 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Newington cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.1M 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 9,188 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Newington ranks 6th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farmington | Farmington Library fine-free | 13.2 | 60 | B+ |
| West Hartford | West Hartford Public Library fine-free | 11.9 | 50 | B+ |
| Rocky Hill | Cora J. Belden Library fine-free | 9.9 | 50 | B− |
| Berlin | Berlin-Peck Memorial Library fine-free | 9.9 | 53 | C |
| Wethersfield | Wethersfield Public Library | 8.7 | 55 | C+ |
| Newington | Lucy Robbins Welles Library fine-free | 8.0 | 52 | C+ |
| New Britain | New Britain Public Library fine-free | 3.4 | 57 | D |
| Hartford | None of its own | — | — | C |
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 Newington
Does Newington have a public library?
Yes. Lucy Robbins Welles Library, 100 Garfield St., serves Newington’s 31,227 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lucy Robbins Welles 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 Newington’s library?
It logged 4.0 visits and lent 8.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Newington’s civic life grade?
C+ Newington is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns on civic life, #113 of 155 in Connecticut. 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 Newington.
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.