Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0Alstead’s library runs 60 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Shedd-Porter Memorial Library serves Alstead’s 2,526 residents. Last year it lent 16K books, movies and e-books and logged 10K visits.
The short version on Alstead’s library
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
46% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 54%. What your card is worth ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Shedd-Porter Memorial Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2010. Today’s library there has 2,430 square feet. The building ↓
Most programs are for young children
66% of the 151 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 39 for ages 0–5. 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.
What’s behind Alstead’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Alstead is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns. Alstead is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Alstead’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in Alstead
9.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.5%
7.5% of Alstead’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 Alstead’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 2010
Shedd-Porter Memorial Library, 2 Main St., Alstead.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Alstead? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Shedd-Porter Memorial Library
Shedd-Porter Memorial Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Dec 27, 2010. It is significant for its education and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Beaux Arts and Renaissance and Greek Revival.
The Shedd-Porter Memorial Library, located at 3 Main Street, is the public library of Alstead, New Hampshire. The library building was a gift to the town from John Graves Shedd and Mary Roenna (Porter) Shedd, and is a Beaux Arts building built in 1910 to a design by William H. McLean and Albert H. Wright. Shedd also donated 2,000 books to the library, whose collection now exceeds 10,000 volumes.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Shedd-Porter Memorial Library serves 2,526 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
16K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 17K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
5,842 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Alstead last year.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.20 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Alstead cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $77K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $247K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $77K 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 679 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Alstead ranks 2nd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walpole | Walpole Town Library fine-free | 8.7 | 36 | B+ |
| Alstead | Shedd-Porter Memorial Library fine-free | 6.3 | 26 | A− |
| Gilsum | Gilsum Public Library fine-free | 4.2 | 12 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Acworth | Acworth Silsby Public Library | 3.4 | 22 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Marlow | Marlow Town Library fine-free | 3.0 | 14 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Surry | Reed Free Library | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
| Langdon | 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.
- 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 Alstead
Does Alstead have a public library?
Yes. Shedd-Porter Memorial Library, 2 Main St., serves Alstead’s 2,526 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 26 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Shedd-Porter Memorial 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 Alstead’s library?
It logged 4.0 visits and lent 6.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Alstead’s civic life grade?
A− Alstead is ahead of 82% 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 Alstead.
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.