Photo: Jane023 · Public domainConway’s library logs 7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Conway Public Library serves Conway’s 10,820 residents. Last year it lent 71K books, movies and e-books and logged 76K visits.
The short version on Conway’s library
The library is a National Register landmark
Conway Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2017. Today’s library there has 15,192 square feet. The buildings ↓
People come to Conway Public Library a lot
Conway Public Library logs 7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 90% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 5.1 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
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 Conway’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Conway is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns, #4 of 126 in New Hampshire. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Conway’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 →
115 community nonprofits are registered in Conway
11.3 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 (6 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.
8.8%
8.8% of Conway’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 Conway’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 24 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Conway Public Library serves 10,820 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
71K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 47K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
15,817 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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 Conway last year.
A National Register landmark since 2017
Conway Public Library, 15 Greenwood Avenue, Conway.
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 Conway? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Conway Public Library
Conway Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jul 17, 2017. It is significant for its architecture and education at the state level.
The Conway Public Library serves the town of Conway, New Hampshire. It is located at 15 Greenwood Avenue in Conway village, in an architecturally distinguished Classical Revival building built in 1900 as a gift to the town from Sarah and Lydia Jenks. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.
More about the building →Other libraries in Conway
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.82 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Conway cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $616K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $616K 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 7,258 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Conway ranks 2nd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madison | Madison Library fine-free | 9.0 | 33 | B+ |
| Conway | Conway Public Library fine-free | 6.6 | 56 | A |
| Bartlett | Bartlett Public Library fine-free | 3.5 | 22 | A− |
| North Conway | Pope Memorial Library fine-free | 2.6 | 45 | — graded as part of its town |
| Fryeburg | Fryeburg Public Library fine-free | 2.0 | 36 | B |
| Brownfield | Brownfield Public Library fine-free | 1.1 | 16 | C+ |
| Eaton | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Chatham | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Albany | 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. Conway Public 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 Conway
Does Conway have a public library?
Yes. Conway Public Library, 15 Greenwood Avenue, serves Conway’s 10,820 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Conway 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 Conway’s library?
It logged 7.0 visits and lent 6.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Conway’s civic life grade?
A Conway is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on civic life, #4 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 Conway.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.