Photo: Craig Michaud at English Wikipedia · CC BY 3.0Boscawen’s library runs 74 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Boscawen Public Library serves Boscawen’s 3,942 residents. Last year it lent 13K books, movies and e-books and logged 11K visits.
What stands out about Boscawen’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Boscawen’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Boscawen is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns, #116 of 126 in New Hampshire. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Boscawen Public Library spends $27 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($58K–$97K) 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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Boscawen
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.5%
6.5% of Boscawen’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 Boscawen’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Boscawen Public Library serves 3,942 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
13K 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.
3,781 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Boscawen last year.
Find it
Boscawen Public Library, 116 North Main St., Boscawen.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Boscawen? 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 $2.31 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Boscawen cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $106K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $245K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $106K 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 1,804 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Boscawen ranks 5th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canterbury | Elkins Library fine-free | 8.4 | 41 | A− |
| Concord | Concord Public Library | 5.7 | 56 | A− |
| Webster | Webster Free Public Library fine-free | 4.4 | 22 | D |
| Northfield | Hall Memorial Library fine-free | 3.9 | 47 | A− |
| Boscawen | Boscawen Public Library fine-free | 3.4 | 35 | C− |
| Salisbury | Salisbury Free Library fine-free | 3.2 | 20 | B− |
| Franklin | Franklin Public Library fine-free | 2.3 | 61 | 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.
- 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 Boscawen
Does Boscawen have a public library?
Yes. Boscawen Public Library, 116 North Main St., serves Boscawen’s 3,942 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Boscawen 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 Boscawen’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 3.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Boscawen’s civic life grade?
C− Boscawen is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns on civic life, #116 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 Boscawen.
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.