Bonfoy-Barstow House · Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0Winfield’s library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
West Winfield Library serves 733 people in and around Winfield. Last year it lent 11K books, movies and e-books and logged 5,154 visits.
The short version on Winfield’s library
More library cards than residents
1,288 cards for 733 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
West Winfield Library serves 733 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 25 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 ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4.2 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. It’s 27% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Winfield is a town of borrowers
West Winfield Library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 90% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Programs lean toward adults
59% of the 113 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 45 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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 Winfield’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Winfield is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns. Winfield is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Winfield’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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Winfield
3.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.6%
9.6% of Winfield’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 Winfield’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
11K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 20K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
3,068 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
West Winfield Library serves 733 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
113 programs a year
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.
Find it
West Winfield Library, 179 South Street, West Winfield.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Winfield? 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 $4.24 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Winfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $45K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $192K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $45K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 1,288 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Winfield borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winfield | West Winfield Library | 15.6 | 25 | B |
| Richfield | Richfield Springs Public Library fine-free | 10.8 | 33 | B− |
| Bridgewater | Bridgewater Free Library fine-free | 0.8 | 21 | B− |
| Plainfield | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
| Litchfield | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Columbia | None of its own | — | — | 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 Winfield
Does Winfield have a public library?
Yes. West Winfield Library, 179 South Street, serves 733 people in and around Winfield (the survey’s count) and is open about 25 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is West Winfield Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Winfield’s library?
It logged 7.0 visits and lent 15.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Winfield’s civic life grade?
B Winfield is ahead of 62% 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 Winfield.
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.