Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Nelson’s library runs 227 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Olivia Rodham Memorial Library serves Nelson’s 634 residents. Last year it lent 4,472 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,519 visits.
The short version on Nelson’s library
Most of Nelson’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 55% of loans, more per resident than at 92% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 45%. What people borrow ↓
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Olivia Rodham Memorial Library ran 144 programs last year, about 3 a week. That’s 227 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60. People show up: 1,427 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Open only about 17 hours a week
Olivia Rodham Memorial Library keeps short hours: about 17 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Olivia Rodham Memorial Library serves 634 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 ↓
Nelson out-borrows every town next door
At 7.1 loans per resident, Nelson leads the four towns here. The closest is Harrisville, at 6.6. Libraries next door ↓
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 Nelson’s civic life grade
Nelson 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 →
144 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 Nelson last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Olivia Rodham Memorial Library serves 634 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
55% of borrowing is digital
4,472 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 9,403 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
2,450 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Olivia Rodham Memorial Library, 1 Nelson Common Road, Nelson.
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 Nelson? 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 $1.76 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Nelson cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $47K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $84K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $47K 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 374 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Nelson borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nelson | Olivia Rodham Memorial Library fine-free | 7.1 | 17 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Harrisville | Harrisville Public Library fine-free | 6.6 | 23 | A− |
| Stoddard | Davis Public Library fine-free | 3.4 | 27 | A− |
| Sullivan | Sullivan Public Library fine-free | 3.0 | 15 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Roxbury | None 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).
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 Nelson
Does Nelson have a public library?
Yes. Olivia Rodham Memorial Library, 1 Nelson Common Road, serves Nelson’s 634 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 17 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Olivia Rodham 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 Nelson’s library?
It logged 5.6 visits and lent 7.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Nelson’s civic life grade?
Nelson 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 Nelson.
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.