Photo: SatyrTN · CC BY-SA 3.0Center Harbor’s library logs 4.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
James E. Nichols Memorial Library serves Center Harbor’s 1,049 residents. Last year it lent 7,574 books, movies and e-books and logged 4,992 visits.
Center Harbor’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
1,248 cards for 1,049 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Most of Center Harbor’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 55% of loans, more per resident than at 93% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 45%. What people borrow ↓
A small-town library
James E. Nichols Memorial Library serves 1,049 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 26 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Center Harbor invests in its library
James E. Nichols Memorial Library spends $107 per resident a year, about twice the typical $54 for a library its size. Almost all of it (92%) 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 Center Harbor’s civic life grade
On library visits and community nonprofits, Center Harbor is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns. Center Harbor is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Center Harbor’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
13 community nonprofits are registered in Center Harbor
13.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
55% of borrowing is digital
7,574 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 14K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
4,189 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 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
James E. Nichols Memorial Library serves 1,049 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
28 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 Center Harbor last year.
Find it
James E. Nichols Memorial Library, 35 Plymouth Street, Center Harbor.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Center Harbor? 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 $1.07 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Center Harbor cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $113K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $120K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $113K 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 1,248 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Center Harbor ranks 4th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moultonborough | Moultonborough Public Library fine-free | 13.9 | 48 | A |
| Holderness | Holderness Library fine-free | 13.3 | 25 | A− |
| Meredith | Meredith Public Library fine-free | 9.3 | 46 | A+ |
| Center Harbor | James E. Nichols Memorial Library fine-free | 7.2 | 26 | A |
| New Hampton | Gordon-Nash Library | 3.2 | 47 | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. James E. Nichols Memorial 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 Center Harbor
Does Center Harbor have a public library?
Yes. James E. Nichols Memorial Library, 35 Plymouth Street, serves Center Harbor’s 1,049 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 26 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is James E. Nichols Memorial 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 Center Harbor’s library?
It logged 4.8 visits and lent 7.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Center Harbor’s civic life grade?
A Center Harbor is ahead of 94% 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 Center Harbor.
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.