Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0Allenstown’s library logs 0.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Allenstown Public Library serves Allenstown’s 4,850 residents. Last year it lent 7,427 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,814 visits.
What Allenstown’s library is like
Allenstown Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Allenstown Public Library records 0.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $15 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Allenstown Public Library offered 10 programs last year, 2.1 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Allenstown Public Library spends $15 per resident, less than 90% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
Open only about 22 hours a week
Allenstown Public Library keeps short hours: about 22 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Pembroke Town Library in Pembroke, next door, is open about 40 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.
What’s behind Allenstown’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Allenstown is ahead of 8% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Allenstown Public Library spends $15 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($54K–$91K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
5 community nonprofits are registered in Allenstown
1.1 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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.3%
7.3% of Allenstown’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.9% in the typical New Hampshire 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 Allenstown’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Allenstown Public Library serves 4,850 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
7,427 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 9,305 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
2,338 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
10 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 Allenstown last year.
Find it
Allenstown Public Library, 59 Main Street, Allenstown.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Allenstown? 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 $1.51 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Allenstown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $74K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $112K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $74K 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 1,295 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Allenstown ranks 5th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hooksett | Hooksett Public Library fine-free | 12.6 | 31 | B |
| Epsom | Epsom Public Library fine-free | 6.1 | 39 | C+ |
| Deerfield | Philbrick-James Library fine-free | 5.0 | 38 | C |
| Pembroke | Pembroke Town Library fine-free | 4.0 | 40 | C |
| Allenstown | Allenstown Public Library fine-free | 1.5 | 22 | D |
| Suncook | Allenstown Public Library fine-free | 1.5 | 22 | — 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.
- 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 Allenstown
Does Allenstown have a public library?
Yes. Allenstown Public Library, 59 Main Street, serves Allenstown’s 4,850 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 22 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Allenstown 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 Allenstown’s library?
It logged 0.6 visits and lent 1.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Allenstown’s civic life grade?
D Allenstown is ahead of 8% 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 Allenstown.
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.