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Mount Blue MainePhoto: Tim Pierce · Public domain
Weld Free Public Library

Weld’s library lends 7.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size

Weld Free Public Library serves Weld’s 422 residents. Last year it lent 3,136 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,422 visits.

25 Church Street, Weld 04285 · about 10 hours a week
–Civic lifeNot graded: fewer than 1,000 residents
Borrowed a year
3,136
7.4 per resident
Visits a year
1,422
3.4 per resident · Below typical (3.5)
Programs & events
9
about 1 a week · 224 attended
Cardholders
100%
558 cards
Open
10 hrs
a week
In brief

Weld’s library, in brief

Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes

93% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 7%. What your card is worth ↓

More library cards than residents

558 cards for 422 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓

Open only about 10 hours a week

Weld Free Public Library keeps short hours: about 10 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓

A small-town library

Weld Free Public Library serves 422 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 ↓

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.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Weld’s civic life grade

Weld isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.

–
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Weld’s overall grade.

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 →

★ What stands out · How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 3.4 visits · typical 3.5Lower than 52%
Borrowing per resident 7.2 print items · typical 3.9Higher than 76%
Digital borrowing 0.2 e-items · typical 1Lower than 74%
Kids’ borrowing 2.4 kids’ items · typical 1.4Higher than 68%
Program attendance 0.5 attendees · typical 0.7Lower than 58%
Programs offered 21.3 per 1,000 residents · typical 60Lower than 77%
Cardholders 100% of residents · typical 54%Higher than 87%
Spending $60 per resident · typical $54Higher than 57%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Weld Free Public Library serves 422 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out

Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.

1,422
visits
3.4 per resident
3,136
loans, print + digital
7.4 per resident
9
programs & events
224 attended
558
library cards
100% of people served
Every open hour6items borrowed
Every week4people at a program
Every day1Wi-Fi sessions
2 public computers5,487 books & media on the shelves
What people borrow

Mostly books and media off the shelf

3,136 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

3,136loans
Books & media (adults) 65%Kids’ books & media 32%E-books, audio & streaming 3%
How hard the shelves work
0.6×

Each of the 5,487 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.

From your couch

93 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

9 programs a year

Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.

Schools in Weld →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–52
Ages 6–112
Teens0
Adults5
All ages0
Little ones
0

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

1,006
kids’ books & media borrowed
224
people at programs
9
programs
The building

Find it

Weld Free Public Library, 25 Church Street, Weld.

10
hours open a week
1,152
square feet
5,487
books & media
With a card

E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.

New in Weld? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.02 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Weld cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$60 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $25K.

Local taxes 7%Gifts & other 93%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $51K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $25K 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 558 cardholders ÷ 12.

Next door

Libraries next door

Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.

12+ loans per resident8–124–8Under 4No library / shared system
TownLibraryLoans per residentHoursCivic life
WeldWeld Free Public Library7.410— under 1,000 residents
RoxburyNone of its own——— under 1,000 residents
AvonNone of its own——— under 1,000 residents
CarthageNone of its own——— 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).

How to read these numbers

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 Weld

Does Weld have a public library?

Yes. Weld Free Public Library, 25 Church Street, serves Weld’s 422 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 10 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Weld Free 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 Weld’s library?

It logged 3.4 visits and lent 7.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.

What is Weld’s civic life grade?

Weld 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 Weld.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.