Do you have a library card?
Anyone owning property or living in the Town of Windham, NH is eligible for a library card without charge. We also offer free library cards to teachers and town employees who work in Windham, even if you are not residents (bring in a paystub or other proof of local employment to register). Children may register for their own library card, associated with a caregiver's card, once they turn five years old. Visit the library, present your ID or other proof of address, and you will receive your very own Nesmith Library card!
Windham, NH residents can also sign up for a digital library card without visiting the library! You can use this temporary digital card to borrow our variety of digital ebooks, audiobooks, and magazines through Cloudlibrary and Overdrive (Libby). Your digital library card will expire in 30 days: please visit the library to complete registration and receive your permanent card. To register online, visit this page of our catalog, and select the link at the top to register now.
Your Library Card will not expire; every three years we verify your address and telephone number, and update our records, if necessary.
A Non-Resident Card is available for $75.00 per year.
A Library Card MUST be presented to check out items.
Check-Out
Books, magazines, music CDs, and audiobooks may be checked out for 14 days. Each Nesmith Library card is limited to 100 items borrowed at any given time. Nesmith Library items will automatically renew on your account, up to three times, as long as no other patron places the item on hold. Too Hot to Hold books (no holds or renewals) and DVDs may be checked out for 7 days. Items from libraries in the GMILCS consortium can be renewed by calling or visiting the Nesmith Library and asking at the front desk; in these cases, we follow the lending library's GMILCS renewal policy. Nesmith Library patrons can use their card at any of the twelve GMILCS libraries to check out materials, and materials may be returned at any GMILCS library.
Interlibrary loan items (borrowed from libraries in NH outside of GMILCS, or borrowed from other states) may be able to be renewed by our ILL Associate: please email us or call the library to request an ILL renewal.
Reference materials and items in our History Room are not available for checkout, but must be used within the Library. Magazines and newspapers are found in the library's reading area. Please note that the most recent issue of each magazine does not check out until the next issue arrives.
Placing Holds
As you search the combined resources of the libraries involved in our GMILCS consortium, you may find that an item you want to borrow is available at a library other than Nesmith Library, or that an item is checked out. In this instance, you can place a hold on that item and when a copy is available, you will be able to check it out to enjoy. If you are monitoring your account online through our catalog, you might see some of the following Hold Statuses while the system and librarians involved work on making your item available for you. Please ask us if you have any questions about placing holds or the status of your request!
Fines and Charges
Nesmith Library is always more interested in having items returned than assessing fines. In fact, we have stopped charging overdue fines for most of our materials! Overdue notices are sent via email and mail to encourage the return of library items, especially if the items have been overdue for an extended period of time. Some types of items will still accrue overdue fines, including:
- Museum passes
- Interlibrary loan items
- Unusual Items
- Too Hot to Hold collection: popular fiction items which cannot be placed on hold or renewed. These items have a 7-Day lending period, and will accrue overdue fines of $0.25 per day until they are returned.
Fines may be paid by visiting the front desk of the library, or online by credit card. A $2.00 service fee will be added to all online credit card payments. (Credit cards may not be used to pay fines in the library at the Circulation Desk, but we may be able to help you log in to our catalog to pay your fine using your smartphone or one of our computers.)