Photo: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY 4.0Canaan’s library runs 14 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Canaan Town Library serves Canaan’s 3,880 residents. Last year it lent 26K books, movies and e-books and logged 9,984 visits.
The short version on Canaan’s library
More library cards than residents
3,897 cards for 3,880 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
57% of the 56 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 22 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Canaan Town Library holds 31,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years 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 Canaan’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Canaan is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns, #96 of 126 in New Hampshire. Canaan’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($61K–$102K) 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 →
20 community nonprofits are registered in Canaan
5.1 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.0%
5.0% of Canaan’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 Canaan’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Canaan Town Library serves 3,880 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
26K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 31K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
8,576 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
56 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 Canaan last year.
Find it
Canaan Town Library, 1173 U.S. Rt 4, Canaan.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Canaan? 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 $2.10 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Canaan cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $197K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $413K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $197K 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 3,897 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Canaan ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hanover | Howe Library fine-free | 18.8 | 54 | A |
| Canaan | Canaan Town Library fine-free | 6.8 | 32 | C |
| Enfield | Enfield Public Library fine-free | 5.9 | 40 | B− |
| Grafton | Grafton Public Library | — | — | B+ |
| Dorchester | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Orange | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Groton | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Canaan Town 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 Canaan
Does Canaan have a public library?
Yes. Canaan Town Library, 1173 U.S. Rt 4, serves Canaan’s 3,880 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 32 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Canaan Town 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 Canaan’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 6.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Canaan’s civic life grade?
C Canaan is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns on civic life, #96 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 Canaan.
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.