Winchester’s library logs 12 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Winchester Public Library serves Winchester’s 530 residents. Last year it lent 2,023 books, movies and e-books and logged 6,376 visits.
The short version on Winchester’s library
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 93% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 16%. The building also logs about 8 Wi-Fi sessions a day. A year at the library ↓
Every town next door borrows more
Winchester’s library lends 3.8 items per resident. Each of the three neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Manitowish Waters at 15. Libraries next door ↓
Most of Winchester’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 60% of loans, more per resident than at 79% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 40%. What people borrow ↓
A small-town library
Winchester Public Library serves 530 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 ↓
Open only about 21 hours a week
Winchester Public Library keeps short hours: about 21 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Mercer Public Library in Mercer, next door, is open about 47 hours a week. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Winchester’s civic life grade
Winchester 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 →
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Winchester Public Library serves 530 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
60% of borrowing is digital
2,023 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 4,997 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
1,220 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
36 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Winchester Public Library, 2117 Lake St., Winchester.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Winchester? 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 $1.02 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Winchester cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $42K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $43K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $42K 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 261 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Winchester ranks 4th of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manitowish Waters | Frank B. Koller Memorial Library fine-free | 15.4 | 34 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Presque Isle | Presque Isle Community Library fine-free | 13.2 | 33 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Mercer | Mercer Public Library fine-free | 7.1 | 47 | A |
| Winchester | Winchester Public Library fine-free | 3.8 | 21 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Bessemer Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Oma | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Winchester Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Winchester
Does Winchester have a public library?
Yes. Winchester Public Library, 2117 Lake St., serves Winchester’s 530 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 21 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Winchester 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 Winchester’s library?
It logged 12.0 visits and lent 3.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Winchester’s civic life grade?
Winchester 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 Winchester.
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.