Photo: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY 4.0Berlin’s library logs 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Berlin Public Library serves Berlin’s 9,577 residents. Last year it lent 17K books, movies and e-books and logged 10K visits.
The short version on Berlin’s library
Berlin Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Berlin Public Library records 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $26 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Berlin Public Library offered 70 programs last year, 7.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
73% of the 70 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 38 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Berlin Public Library holds 35,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. 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 Berlin’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Berlin is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns, #92 of 126 in New Hampshire. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($34K–$56K) 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 →
36 community nonprofits are registered in Berlin
3.8 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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.8%
8.8% of Berlin’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 Berlin’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.
Berlin Public Library serves 9,577 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
17K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 35K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
5,155 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
70 programs a year
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 Berlin last year.
Find it
Berlin Public Library, 270 Main Street, Berlin.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Berlin? 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 $1.09 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Berlin cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $250K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $271K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $250K 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 1,804 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Berlin ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
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 Berlin
Does Berlin have a public library?
Yes. Berlin Public Library, 270 Main Street, serves Berlin’s 9,577 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Berlin 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 Berlin’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 1.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Berlin’s civic life grade?
C+ Berlin is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns on civic life, #92 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 Berlin.
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.