Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0Windham’s library lends 1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Willimantic Public Library serves Windham’s 23,833 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 32K books, movies and e-books and logged 58K visits.
Windham’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Willimantic Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on five. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 14% of the people Willimantic Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Willimantic Public Library holds 42,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years last year. 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.
What’s behind Windham’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Windham is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns, #135 of 155 in Connecticut. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Windham’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Windham’s 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($42K–$70K) 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 →
79 community nonprofits are registered in Windham
3.3 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 (21 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.4%
5.4% of Windham’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 Windham’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Willimantic Public Library serves 23,833 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
32K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 42K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
8,588 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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 Windham last year.
4 places to borrow in Windham
Willimantic Public Library, 905 Main St., Windham.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Windham? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Windham
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Windham cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $724K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $519K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $724K 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 3,409 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Windham ranks 10th of 11 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lebanon | Jonathan Trumbull Library fine-free | 8.1 | 42 | B |
| Columbia | Saxton B. Little Free Library fine-free | 8.0 | 51 | A− |
| South Windham | Guilford Smith Memorial Library, Inc fine-free | 7.4 | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Mansfield | Mansfield Library fine-free | 6.7 | 49 | C+ |
| Mansfield Center | Mansfield Library fine-free | 6.7 | 49 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Coventry | Booth & Dimock Memorial Library fine-free | 6.0 | 43 | B− |
| Chaplin | Chaplin Public Library fine-free | 4.8 | 23 | A− |
| Scotland | Scotland Public Library fine-free | 4.7 | 18 | B− |
| Franklin | Janet Carlson Calvert Library fine-free | 4.2 | 29 | A− |
| Windham | Willimantic Public Library fine-free | 1.4 | 44 | C− |
| Willimantic | Willimantic Public Library fine-free | 1.4 | 44 | — graded as part of its town |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Willimantic Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Windham
Does Windham have a public library?
Yes. Willimantic Public Library, 905 Main St., serves Windham’s 23,833 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Willimantic Public 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 Windham’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 1.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Windham’s civic life grade?
C− Windham is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns on civic life, #135 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 Windham.
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.