Acworth Congregational Church · Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0Acworth’s library runs 9.3 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Acworth Silsby Public Library serves Acworth’s 859 residents. Last year it lent 2,912 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,873 visits.
Acworth’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, Acworth Silsby Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Acworth Silsby Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Three of the four libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Acworth Silsby Public Library serves 859 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 ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Acworth Silsby Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1983. Today’s library there has 970 square feet. The building ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Acworth Silsby Public Library offered 8 programs last year, 9.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. 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 Acworth’s civic life grade
Acworth 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 →
A National Register landmark since 1983
Acworth Silsby Public Library, 5 Lynn Hill Road, Acworth.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Acworth? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Acworth Silsby Library
Acworth Silsby Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Dec 8, 1983. It is significant for its architecture and social history at the local level. Its architecture is described as Romanesque.
The Acworth Silsby Library is the public library of Acworth, New Hampshire, located in the town center at 5 Lynn Hill Road. Built in 1891 and funded by Acworth native Ithiel Homer Silsby, the building is a distinctive local example of Romanesque architecture. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Acworth Silsby Public Library serves 859 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
2,912 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 15K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
313 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
8 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Acworth last year.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Acworth cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $48K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $45K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $48K 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 216 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Acworth ranks 2nd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alstead | Shedd-Porter Memorial Library fine-free | 6.3 | 26 | A− |
| Acworth | Acworth Silsby Public Library | 3.4 | 22 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Lempster | Miner Memorial Library fine-free | 1.9 | 14 | B− |
| Charlestown | Silsby Free Public Library fine-free | 1.6 | 30 | B− |
| Unity | Unity Free Public Library | — | — | D |
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 Acworth
Does Acworth have a public library?
Yes. Acworth Silsby Public Library, 5 Lynn Hill Road, serves Acworth’s 859 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 22 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Acworth Silsby Public 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 Acworth’s library?
It logged 3.3 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 Acworth’s civic life grade?
Acworth 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 Acworth.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.