Photo: Ken Gallager at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0Barnstead’s library runs 51 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Oscar Foss Memorial Library serves Barnstead’s 4,976 residents. Last year it lent 23K books, movies and e-books and logged 9,656 visits.
The short version on Barnstead’s library
The library is a National Register landmark
Oscar Foss Memorial Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1985. Today’s library there has 4,880 square feet. The building ↓
41% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 41% of loans, more per resident than at 74% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 59%. What people borrow ↓
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 Barnstead’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Barnstead is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns, #87 of 126 in New Hampshire. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Barnstead’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($84K–$140K) 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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in Barnstead
2.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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.
12.0%
12.0% of Barnstead’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 Barnstead’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1985
Oscar Foss Memorial Library, 111 South Barnstead Road, Center Barnstead.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Barnstead? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Oscar Foss Memorial Library
Foss, Oscar, Memorial Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Nov 7, 1985. It is significant for its architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Classical.
The Oscar Foss Memorial Library is the public library of Barnstead, New Hampshire. It is located in the center of town at 111 South Barnstead Road, in a single-story Colonial Revival building (listed on the National Register of Historic Places) designed by the William M. Butterfield Company of Manchester and built in 1916-17.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Oscar Foss Memorial Library serves 4,976 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
41% of borrowing is digital
23K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Barnstead’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 14K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
9,339 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.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.46 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Barnstead cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $171K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $420K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $171K 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 2,427 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Barnstead ranks 2nd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strafford | Hill Library fine-free | 6.1 | 51 | B− |
| Barnstead | Oscar Foss Memorial Library fine-free | 4.6 | 32 | C+ |
| Alton | Gilman Library fine-free | 4.5 | 21 | C+ |
| Farmington | Goodwin Library fine-free | 4.2 | 30 | C− |
| Pittsfield | Josiah Carpenter Library fine-free | 3.5 | 31 | B |
| Gilmanton | Gilmanton Year-Round Library Association fine-free | 3.5 | 28 | B+ |
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. Oscar Foss Memorial 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 Barnstead
Does Barnstead have a public library?
Yes. Oscar Foss Memorial Library, 111 South Barnstead Road, serves Barnstead’s 4,976 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 32 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Oscar Foss 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 Barnstead’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 4.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Barnstead’s civic life grade?
C+ Barnstead is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns on civic life, #87 of 126 in New Hampshire. 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 Barnstead.
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.