Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Dublin’s library runs 235 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Dublin Public Library serves Dublin’s 1,528 residents. Last year it lent 25K books, movies and e-books and logged 10K visits.
The short version on Dublin’s library
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Dublin Public Library ran 359 programs last year, about 7 a week. That’s 235 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60. People show up: 4,771 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Dublin out-borrows every town next door
At 16 loans per resident, Dublin leads the five towns here. The closest is Peterborough, at 12. Libraries next door ↓
46% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 46% of loans, more per resident than at 97% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 54%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Programs are almost all for children
82% of the 359 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.8 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Dublin Public Library serves 1,528 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 28 hours a week. 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 ↓
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 Dublin’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Dublin is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Dublin’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 →
21 community nonprofits are registered in Dublin
12.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (3 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.
12.7%
12.7% of Dublin’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 Dublin’s residents live; 2022.
About 6 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 Dublin last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Dublin Public Library serves 1,528 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
46% of borrowing is digital
25K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 22K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
11,511 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Dublin Public Library, 1114 Main Street, Dublin.
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 Dublin? 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 $3.04 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Dublin cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $138K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $420K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $138K 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 965 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Dublin borrows the most per resident of the 5 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dublin | Dublin Public Library fine-free | 16.4 | 28 | A+ |
| Peterborough | Peterborough Town Library fine-free | 12.3 | 48 | A+ |
| Jaffrey | Jaffrey Public Library fine-free | 11.5 | 44 | A |
| Harrisville | Harrisville Public Library fine-free | 6.6 | 23 | A− |
| Marlborough | Frost Free Library fine-free | 4.1 | 27 | A− |
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 Dublin
Does Dublin have a public library?
Yes. Dublin Public Library, 1114 Main Street, serves Dublin’s 1,528 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 28 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dublin 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 Dublin’s library?
It logged 6.6 visits and lent 16.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Dublin’s civic life grade?
A+ Dublin is ahead of 98% 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 Dublin.
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.