Photo: Chipstata · Public domainWarren’s library runs 160 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Joseph Patch Library serves Warren’s 827 residents. Last year it lent 2,166 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,559 visits.
Warren’s library, in brief
Open only about 15 hours a week
Joseph Patch Library keeps short hours: about 15 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Most of Warren’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 52% of loans, more per resident than at 60% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 48%. What people borrow ↓
A small-town library
Joseph Patch Library serves 827 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.
What’s behind Warren’s civic life grade
Warren 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 →
52% of borrowing is digital
2,166 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Warren’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 5,777 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
1,128 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. 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.
Joseph Patch Library serves 827 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.
About 1 kids’ program a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Joseph Patch Library, 320 Nh Route 25, Warren.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Warren? 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 $1.12 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Warren cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $34K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $38K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $34K 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 423 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Warren ranks 3rd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Piermont | Piermont Public Library fine-free | 7.9 | 16 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Wentworth | Webster Memorial Library fine-free | 4.7 | 15 | — graded with its twin city |
| Warren | Joseph Patch Library fine-free | 2.6 | 15 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Haverhill | Haverhill Library Association fine-free | 1.4 | 16 | B |
| Benton | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Ellsworth | 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 Warren
Does Warren have a public library?
Yes. Joseph Patch Library, 320 Nh Route 25, serves Warren’s 827 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 15 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Joseph Patch 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 Warren’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 2.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Warren’s civic life grade?
Warren 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 Warren.
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.