Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Windsor’s library lends 8.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Windsor Free Public Library serves Windsor’s 818 residents. Last year it lent 6,717 print books and media and logged 1,282 visits.
The short version on Windsor’s library
Open only about 10 hours a week
Windsor Free Public Library keeps short hours: about 10 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Dalton Free Public Library in Dalton, next door, is open about 33 hours a week. The building ↓
Massachusetts pays a big share
49% of the budget comes from the state, and 30% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
People borrow more than they stay
Borrowing per resident is higher than at 81% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 83%. People come in, pick up their books and go. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Windsor Free Public Library serves 818 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 ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 13% of the people Windsor Free Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
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 Windsor’s civic life grade
Windsor isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Books and media off the shelf
6,717 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 7,705 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Windsor Free Public Library serves 818 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
9 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 Windsor last year.
Find it
Windsor Free Public Library, 1890 Route 9, Windsor.
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 Windsor? 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 $6.48 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Windsor cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $16K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $103K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $16K 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 106 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Windsor ranks 3rd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dalton | Dalton Free Public Library fine-free | 8.4 | 33 | B+ |
| Plainfield | Shaw Memorial Library | 8.4 | 12 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Windsor | Windsor Free Public Library fine-free | 8.2 | 10 | — graded with its twin city |
| Cheshire | Cheshire Public Library fine-free | 1.5 | 15 | C− |
| Cummington | Bryant Free Library fine-free | 0.8 | 9 | — 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.
- Digital loans not reported. Massachusetts 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 Windsor
Does Windsor have a public library?
Yes. Windsor Free Public Library, 1890 Route 9, serves Windsor’s 818 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 10 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Windsor Free 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 Windsor’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 8.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Windsor’s civic life grade?
Windsor isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. 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.