Winchester Historic District · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainWinchester’s library logs 2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Winchester Public Library serves Winchester’s 1,574 residents. Last year it lent 4,782 print books and media and logged 3,172 visits.
The short version on Winchester’s library
A small-town library
Winchester Public Library serves 1,574 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 30 hours a week. 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
32% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 61%. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
71% of the 114 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 38 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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 Winchester’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Winchester is ahead of 77% of U.S. towns. Winchester’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
20 community nonprofits are registered in Winchester
13.4 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.2%
10.2% of Winchester’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.1% in the typical Illinois 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 Winchester’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.
Winchester Public Library serves 1,574 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.
Books and media off the shelf
4,782 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Winchester’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 15K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
About 2 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.
Find it
Winchester Public Library, 215 North Main Street, Winchester.
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 $1.35 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Winchester cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $67K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $91K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $67K 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 438 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Winchester Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- Digital loans not reported. Illinois libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Winchester
Does Winchester have a public library?
Yes. Winchester Public Library, 215 North Main Street, serves Winchester’s 1,574 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Winchester Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Winchester’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 3.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Winchester’s civic life grade?
A− Winchester is ahead of 77% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Winchester.
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.