Photo: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY 4.0Cornish’s library logs 3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
George H. Stowell Free Library serves Cornish’s 1,628 residents. Last year it lent 9,603 books, movies and e-books and logged 4,828 visits.
What Cornish’s library is like
Open only about 15 hours a week
George H. Stowell Free Library keeps short hours: about 15 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Fiske Free Library in Claremont, next door, is open about 44 hours a week. The building ↓
A small-town library
George H. Stowell Free Library serves 1,628 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 ↓
Most programs are for young children
67% of the 115 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.1 a week for ages 0–5. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Cornish’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Cornish is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns. Cornish’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($69K–$115K) 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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Cornish
3.9 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 (1 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.
6.5%
6.5% of Cornish’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 Cornish’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
George H. Stowell Free Library serves 1,628 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
9,603 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Cornish’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 7,680 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
2,940 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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
George H. Stowell Free Library, 24 School Street, Cornish Flat.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Cornish? 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 $3.94 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cornish cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $43K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $171K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $43K 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 729 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Cornish ranks 2nd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plainfield | Philip Read Memorial Library | 14.3 | 22 | B |
| Cornish | George H. Stowell Free Library fine-free | 5.9 | 15 | C+ |
| Windsor | Windsor Public fine-free | 4.1 | 38 | B− |
| Claremont | Fiske Free Library | 3.3 | 44 | C+ |
| Croydon | 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.
- 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 Cornish
Does Cornish have a public library?
Yes. George H. Stowell Free Library, 24 School Street, serves Cornish’s 1,628 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 15 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is George H. Stowell Free 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 Cornish’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 5.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Cornish’s civic life grade?
C+ Cornish is ahead of 37% 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 Cornish.
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.