Photo: AlexiusHoratius · CC BY-SA 3.0Concord’s library logs 5.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Concord Public Library serves Concord’s 44,111 residents from 3 locations. Last year it lent 253K books, movies and e-books and logged 239K visits.
The short version on Concord’s library
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Concord Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. All six libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
People come to Concord Public Library a lot
Concord Public Library logs 5.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 90% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 3.8 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Three places to borrow in Concord
Concord Public Library runs three locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 58% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 61% of similar-size libraries. 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 Concord’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Concord is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns, #26 of 126 in New Hampshire. Concord’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 →
426 community nonprofits are registered in Concord
9.6 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 (35 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 10 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.1%
7.1% of Concord’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 Concord’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 62 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Concord Public Library serves 44,111 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
253K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 136K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
84,308 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Concord last year.
3 places to borrow in Concord
Concord Public Library, 45 Green Street, Concord.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Concord? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Concord
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.76 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Concord cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.2M 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 10,389 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Concord ranks 4th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hopkinton | Hopkinton Town Library fine-free | 14.9 | 38 | A− |
| Bow | Baker Free Library fine-free | 8.8 | 54 | B+ |
| 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 |
| Pembroke | Pembroke Town Library fine-free | 4.0 | 40 | C |
| 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 Concord
Does Concord have a public library?
Yes. Concord Public Library, 45 Green Street, serves Concord’s 44,111 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Concord Public 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 Concord’s library?
It logged 5.4 visits and lent 5.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Concord’s civic life grade?
A− Concord is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns on civic life, #26 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 Concord.
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.