Union Chapel · Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 3.0Windham’s library logs 12 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Windham Public Library serves Windham’s 1,708 residents. Last year it lent 26K books, movies and e-books and logged 20K visits.
Windham’s library, in brief
Windham uses its library more than almost any town its size
Windham Public Library logs 12 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 12 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 90% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Windham Public Library serves 1,708 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 40 hours a week. 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 ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 51% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 65 items per child in Windham last year. Kids & programs ↓
Programs draw a crowd
5,634 people came to the library’s 257 programs last year: 3.3 per resident, against a typical 0.7, more than at 94% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.4 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. It’s 23% of all loans. 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 Windham’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Windham is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in Windham
8.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.9%
8.9% of Windham’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.4% in the typical New York 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 under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Windham Public Library serves 1,708 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
26K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 20K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
5,849 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Windham Public Library, 5379 Church Street, 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 $3.08 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Windham cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $144K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $443K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $144K 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 1,496 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windham | Windham Public Library fine-free | 15.1 | 40 | A |
| Cairo | Cairo Public Library | 5.4 | 36 | B− |
| Jewett | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
| Durham | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
| Conesville | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Ashland | 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 Windham
Does Windham have a public library?
Yes. Windham Public Library, 5379 Church Street, serves Windham’s 1,708 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Windham Public 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 11.8 visits and lent 15.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Windham’s civic life grade?
A Windham is ahead of 94% 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 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.