Photo: Ken Gallager at Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0Washington’s library runs 295 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Shedd Free Library serves Washington’s 1,217 residents. Last year it lent 4,780 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,154 visits.
The short version on Washington’s library
Five times the programs of a typical library its size
Shedd Free Library ran 359 programs last year, about 7 a week. That’s 295 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
37% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 63%. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Shedd Free Library serves 1,217 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 ↓
Open only about 19 hours a week
Shedd Free Library keeps short hours: about 19 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
47% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 47% of loans, more per resident than at 71% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 53%. What people borrow ↓
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 Washington’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Washington is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns. Washington’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
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 →
5 community nonprofits are registered in Washington
4.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.6%
7.6% of Washington’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 Washington’s residents live; 2022.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Washington last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Shedd Free Library serves 1,217 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.
47% of borrowing is digital
4,780 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 5,901 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
2,252 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Shedd Free Library, 46 North Main Street, Washington.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Washington? 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 $1.22 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Washington cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $61K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $74K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $61K 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 1,023 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Washington ranks 3rd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bradford | Brown Memorial Library fine-free | 7.1 | 27 | A |
| Hillsborough | Fuller Public Library fine-free | 5.4 | 25 | B+ |
| Washington | Shedd Free Library fine-free | 3.9 | 19 | C+ |
| Stoddard | Davis Public Library fine-free | 3.4 | 27 | A− |
| Marlow | Marlow Town Library fine-free | 3.0 | 14 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Lempster | Miner Memorial Library fine-free | 1.9 | 14 | B− |
| Goshen | Olive G. Pettis Library | — | 27 | — graded with its twin city |
| Windsor | 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 Washington
Does Washington have a public library?
Yes. Shedd Free Library, 46 North Main Street, serves Washington’s 1,217 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 19 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Shedd Free 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 Washington’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 3.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Washington’s civic life grade?
C+ Washington is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Washington.
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.