Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Milford’s library runs 37 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
William Y. Wadleigh Memorial Library serves Milford’s 16,590 residents. Last year it lent 130K books, movies and e-books and logged 63K visits.
What Milford’s library is like
The library is a National Register landmark
Milford Town House and Library Annex has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1988. Today’s library there has 13,500 square feet. The building ↓
Programs draw a crowd
21,000 people came to the library’s 612 programs last year: 1.2 per resident, against a typical 0.4, more than at 93% of similar-size libraries. 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.
What’s behind Milford’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Milford is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns, #94 of 126 in New Hampshire. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($73K–$122K) 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 →
56 community nonprofits are registered in Milford
3.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (11 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.
5.9%
5.9% of Milford’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.9% in the typical New Hampshire 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 Milford’s residents live; 2022.
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 Milford last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
William Y. Wadleigh Memorial Library serves 16,590 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 53 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
130K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 78K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.
27,678 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
A National Register landmark since 1988
William Y. Wadleigh Memorial Library, 49 Nashua Street, Milford.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Milford? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Milford Town House and Library Annex
Milford Town House and Library Annex was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Dec 1, 1988. It is significant for its architecture at the state level. Its architecture is described as Italianate and Second Empire and Late 19th and Early 20th American Movements.
The Milford Town House and Library Annex, now just the Milford Town Hall, is a historic municipal building occupying a prominent position facing the central oval in Milford, New Hampshire. It was built in 1869-70 and enlarged in 1891, and was designed by renowned architect Gridley J. F. Bryant. It is a significant local example of Italianate and Second Empire architecture.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.69 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Milford cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.3M 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 6,469 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Milford ranks 3rd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amherst | Amherst Town Library fine-free | 17.2 | 58 | A |
| Hollis | Hollis Social Library fine-free | 8.8 | 45 | B+ |
| Milford | William Y. Wadleigh Memorial Library fine-free | 7.8 | 48 | C+ |
| Wilton | Wilton Public & Gregg Free Library fine-free | 7.4 | 36 | B+ |
| Brookline | Brookline Public Library | 6.9 | 40 | B+ |
| Lyndeborough | J.A. Tarbell Library fine-free | 3.6 | 31 | C+ |
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 Milford
Does Milford have a public library?
Yes. William Y. Wadleigh Memorial Library, 49 Nashua Street, serves Milford’s 16,590 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is William Y. Wadleigh Memorial 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 Milford’s library?
It logged 3.8 visits and lent 7.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Milford’s civic life grade?
C+ Milford is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns on civic life, #94 of 126 in New Hampshire. 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 Milford.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.