Photo: Ken Gallager at Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0Canterbury’s library runs 130 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Elkins Public Library serves Canterbury’s 2,431 residents. Last year it lent 20K books, movies and e-books and logged 15K visits.
What Canterbury’s library is like
Canterbury out-borrows every town next door
At 8.4 loans per resident, Canterbury leads the five towns here. The closest is Concord, at 5.7. Libraries next door ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.2 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. It’s 38% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Programs lean toward adults
58% of the 317 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 118 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Canterbury invests in its library
Elkins Public Library spends $124 per resident a year, about twice the typical $54 for a library its size. Almost all of it (91%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Canterbury’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Canterbury is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns. Canterbury’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
18 community nonprofits are registered in Canterbury
7.7 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.0%
7.0% of Canterbury’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 Canterbury’s residents live; 2022.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
20K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 21K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
7,715 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Elkins Public Library serves 2,431 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Canterbury last year.
Find it
Elkins Library, 9 Center Road, Canterbury.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Canterbury? 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 $1.12 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Canterbury cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $303K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $338K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $303K 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 1,050 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Canterbury borrows the most per resident of the 5 towns here. 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− |
| Loudon | Maxfield Public Library fine-free | 4.6 | 34 | C |
| Northfield | Hall Memorial Library fine-free | 3.9 | 47 | A− |
| Boscawen | Boscawen Public Library fine-free | 3.4 | 35 | 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 Canterbury
Does Canterbury have a public library?
Yes. Elkins Public Library, 9 Center Road, serves Canterbury’s 2,431 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Elkins 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 Canterbury’s library?
It logged 6.0 visits and lent 8.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Canterbury’s civic life grade?
A− Canterbury is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Canterbury.
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.