Canaan Chapel · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 3.0Barrington’s library lends 5.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Barrington Public Library serves Barrington’s 9,474 residents. Last year it lent 69K books, movies and e-books and logged 33K visits.
Barrington’s library, in brief
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 63% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 80% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Most programs are for young children
67% of the 432 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.3 a week 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 Barrington’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Barrington is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns, #56 of 126 in New Hampshire. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Barrington’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
34 community nonprofits are registered in Barrington
3.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.5%
9.5% of Barrington’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 Barrington’s residents live; 2022.
About 6 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 Barrington last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Barrington Public Library serves 9,474 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 28 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
69K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 36K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.4 time last year, on average.
19,040 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Barrington Public Library, 105 Ramsdell Lane, Barrington.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Barrington? 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 $2.54 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Barrington cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $409K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $409K 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 4,175 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Barrington ranks 3rd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madbury | Madbury Public Library fine-free | 7.7 | 30 | A− |
| Nottingham | Blaisdell Memorial Library | 7.5 | 35 | B− |
| Barrington | Barrington Public Library fine-free | 7.2 | 47 | B |
| Strafford | Hill Library fine-free | 6.1 | 51 | B− |
| Rochester | Rochester Public Library | 4.3 | 54 | C+ |
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 Barrington
Does Barrington have a public library?
Yes. Barrington Public Library, 105 Ramsdell Lane, serves Barrington’s 9,474 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Barrington 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 Barrington’s library?
It logged 3.5 visits and lent 7.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Barrington’s civic life grade?
B Barrington is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns on civic life, #56 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 Barrington.
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.