Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0Windham’s library lends 10 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Nesmith Library serves Windham’s 16,138 residents. Last year it lent 195K books, movies and e-books and logged 61K visits.
Windham’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 62% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 94% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 23 items per child in Windham last year. Kids & programs ↓
Windham out-borrows every town next door
At 12 loans per resident, Windham leads the six towns here. The closest is Londonderry, at 6.9. Libraries next door ↓
Windham is a town of borrowers
Nesmith Library lends 10 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 90% of similar-size libraries. Each item on the shelves went out about 2.2 times last year. 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.
What’s behind Windham’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Windham is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns, #34 of 126 in New Hampshire. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Windham’s count of community nonprofits pulls 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 →
57 community nonprofits are registered in Windham
3.6 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 (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.
18.9%
18.9% of Windham’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 Windham’s residents live; 2022.
About 3 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 Windham last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Nesmith Library serves 16,138 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 60 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
195K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 73K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.2 times last year, on average.
33,747 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Nesmith Library, 8 Fellows Road, Windham.
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 Windham? 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 $2.40 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Windham cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M 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 8,663 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Windham borrows the most per resident of the 6 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windham | Nesmith Library fine-free | 12.1 | 63 | A− |
| Londonderry | Leach Library | 6.9 | 54 | C+ |
| Pelham | Pelham Public Library | 6.4 | 56 | C+ |
| Derry | Derry Public Library fine-free | 5.3 | 53 | C+ |
| Hudson | George H. and Ella M. Rodgers Memorial Library fine-free | 4.2 | 54 | C− |
| Salem | Kelley Library | 3.7 | 63 | 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 Windham
Does Windham have a public library?
Yes. Nesmith Library, 8 Fellows Road, serves Windham’s 16,138 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 63 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Nesmith 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 Windham’s library?
It logged 3.8 visits and lent 12.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Windham’s civic life grade?
A− Windham is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns on civic life, #34 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 Windham.
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.