Photo: MidniteOIL · CC BY-SA 4.0Dover’s library runs 25 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Dover Public Library serves Dover’s 33,234 residents. Last year it lent 252K books, movies and e-books and logged 137K visits.
Dover’s library, in brief
Above typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Dover Public Library is above the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, with four in the top 30%. No single number stands out, and none lags far behind. How it compares ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Dover Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Six of the seven libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. 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.
What’s behind Dover’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Dover is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns, #49 of 126 in New Hampshire. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
143 community nonprofits are registered in Dover
4.3 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 (14 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.5%
8.5% of Dover’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 Dover’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Dover Public Library serves 33,234 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 79 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
252K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 81K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.2 times last year, on average.
77,311 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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 Dover last year.
Find it
Dover Public Library, 73 Locust Street, Dover.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Dover? 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 $2.31 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Dover cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.8M 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 13,013 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Dover ranks 3rd of 8 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newington | Langdon Library fine-free | 11.5 | 39 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Madbury | Madbury Public Library fine-free | 7.7 | 30 | A− |
| Dover | Dover Public Library | 7.6 | 62 | B+ |
| South Berwick | South Berwick Public Library fine-free | 5.2 | 35 | B |
| Rollinsford | Rollinsford Public Library fine-free | 4.4 | 32 | C+ |
| Rochester | Rochester Public Library | 4.3 | 54 | C+ |
| Somersworth | Somersworth Public Library fine-free | 3.9 | 39 | C |
| Eliot | William Fogg Public Library fine-free | 3.0 | 49 | 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.
- 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 Dover
Does Dover have a public library?
Yes. Dover Public Library, 73 Locust Street, serves Dover’s 33,234 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dover 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 Dover’s library?
It logged 4.1 visits and lent 7.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Dover’s civic life grade?
B+ Dover is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns on civic life, #49 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 Dover.
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.