Photo: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY-SA 4.0Claremont’s library runs 7.4 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Fiske Free Library serves Claremont’s 12,953 residents. Last year it lent 43K books, movies and e-books and drew 442 people to its programs.
Claremont’s library, in brief
Programs are almost all for children
91% of the 96 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 35 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Fiske Free Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Five of the six libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Fiske Free Library offered 96 programs last year, 7.4 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
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 Claremont’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Claremont is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns, #86 of 126 in New Hampshire. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so Claremont is graded on two of the three inputs. Claremont’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
The survey’s stand-in for Claremont’s 2024 visits is its own estimate, so it is left out.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($44K–$74K) 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 →
58 community nonprofits are registered in Claremont
4.4 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.1%
6.1% of Claremont’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 Claremont’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Fiske Free Library serves 12,953 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
43K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Claremont’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 53K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
8,360 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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.
Find it
Fiske Free Library, 108 Broad Street, Claremont.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Claremont? 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 $1.64 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Claremont cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $440K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $721K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $440K 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 7,601 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Claremont ranks 3rd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newport | Richards Free Library fine-free | 5.9 | 46 | B |
| Cornish | George H. Stowell Free Library fine-free | 5.9 | 15 | C+ |
| Claremont | Fiske Free Library | 3.3 | 44 | C+ |
| Charlestown | Silsby Free Public Library fine-free | 1.6 | 30 | B− |
| Weathersfield | Weathersfield Proctor fine-free | 1.3 | 32 | C+ |
| Ascutney | Weathersfield Proctor fine-free | 1.3 | 32 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Unity | Unity Free Public Library | — | — | D |
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.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Fiske Free Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate is its own, so we leave it out and never rank it.
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 Claremont
Does Claremont have a public library?
Yes. Fiske Free Library, 108 Broad Street, serves Claremont’s 12,953 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fiske Free 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 Claremont’s library?
It lent 3.3 items per resident in 2024 (print and digital) and ran 96 programs that drew 442 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Claremont’s civic life grade?
C+ Claremont is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns on civic life, #86 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 Claremont.
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.