Photo: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY-SA 4.0Wells River’s library logs 5.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Baldwin Memorial serves 1,199 people in and around Wells River. Last year it lent 4,112 books, movies and e-books and logged 6,240 visits.
Wells River’s library, in brief
Few programs for a library this size
Baldwin Memorial offered 4 programs last year, 3.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
The Wells River branch keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
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; Baldwin Memorial serves 1,199 people in and around Wells River, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Wells River’s civic life grade
Wells River 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 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Baldwin Memorial serves 1,199 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Baldwin Memorial system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
4,112 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Wells River’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
787 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
4 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Baldwin Memorial, 33 Main St., Wells River.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Baldwin Memorial branch.
New in Wells River? 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 $1.41 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wells River cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $49K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $70K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $49K 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 463 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bath | Bath Public Library fine-free | 15.0 | 21 | B+ |
| Haverhill | Haverhill Library Association fine-free | 1.4 | 16 | B |
| Wells River | Baldwin Memorial fine-free | — | 20 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Newbury | Baldwin Memorial fine-free | — | 20 | B |
| Ryegate | South Ryegate Public | — | — | — too few inputs |
| Woodsville | Woodsville Free Public Library fine-free | — | 16 | — graded as part of its town |
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.
- System-wide. Baldwin Memorial serves 1,199 people in and around Wells River, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Wells River.
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 Wells River
Does Wells River have a public library?
Yes. Baldwin Memorial, 33 Main St., serves 1,199 people in and around Wells River (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Baldwin Memorial 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 Wells River’s library?
It logged 5.2 visits and lent 3.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Wells River’s civic life grade?
Wells River 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 Wells River.
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.