Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0Windsor’s library logs 6.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Windsor Public Library serves Windsor’s 29,372 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 201K books, movies and e-books and logged 201K visits.
The short version on Windsor’s library
People come to Windsor Public Library a lot
Windsor Public Library logs 6.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 95% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 5.7 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Windsor Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Four of the five libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. 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 Windsor’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Windsor is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns, #70 of 155 in Connecticut. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
139 community nonprofits are registered in Windsor
4.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (41 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 11 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.7%
5.7% of Windsor’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 Windsor’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 39 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
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.
Windsor Public Library serves 29,372 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
201K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 132K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.
34,311 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 7 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 Windsor last year.
2 places to borrow in Windsor
Windsor Public Library, 323 Broad St., Windsor.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Windsor? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Windsor
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.65 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Windsor cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.9M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 9,094 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Windsor ranks 2nd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Windsor | South Windsor Public Library fine-free | 9.7 | 56 | C+ |
| Windsor | Windsor Public Library | 6.8 | 58 | B |
| East Granby | East Granby Public Library fine-free | 6.0 | 46 | A |
| Windsor Locks | Windsor Locks Public Library fine-free | 5.1 | 48 | C+ |
| Bloomfield | Bloomfield Public Library fine-free | 3.5 | 40 | C |
| East Windsor | Library Association of Warehouse Point | 3.1 | 46 | B |
| Hartford | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Blue Hills | None of its own | — | — | — 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.
- 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 Windsor
Does Windsor have a public library?
Yes. Windsor Public Library, 323 Broad St., serves Windsor’s 29,372 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Windsor Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Windsor’s library?
It logged 6.8 visits and lent 6.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Windsor’s civic life grade?
B Windsor is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns on civic life, #70 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 Windsor.
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.