Photo: Chipstata · Public domainWentworth’s library runs 88 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Webster Memorial Library serves Wentworth’s 859 residents. Last year it lent 4,050 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,623 visits.
The short version on Wentworth’s library
Open only about 15 hours a week
Webster Memorial Library keeps short hours: about 15 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Programs are almost all for children
83% of the 76 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Webster Memorial Library serves 859 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 Wentworth’s civic life grade
Wentworth 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Webster Memorial Library serves 859 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.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
4,050 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
1,192 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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 Wentworth last year.
Find it
Webster Memorial Library, 20 Wentworth Village Road, Wentworth.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Wentworth? 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 $1.35 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wentworth cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $48K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $64K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $48K 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 214 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Wentworth ranks 3rd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rumney | Byron G. Merrill Library fine-free | 9.1 | 15 | A− |
| 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 |
| Orford | Orford Free Library fine-free | 3.8 | 14 | A |
| Warren | Joseph Patch Library fine-free | 2.6 | 15 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Dorchester | 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 Wentworth
Does Wentworth have a public library?
Yes. Webster Memorial Library, 20 Wentworth Village Road, serves Wentworth’s 859 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 15 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Webster 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 Wentworth’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 4.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Wentworth’s civic life grade?
Wentworth 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 Wentworth.
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.