Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Exeter’s library runs 132 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Exeter Public Library serves Exeter’s 16,263 residents. Last year it lent 129K books, movies and e-books and drew 60K people to its programs.
What Exeter’s library is like
Six times the programs of a typical library its size
Exeter Public Library ran 2,154 programs last year, about 41 a week. That’s 132 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. People show up: 60,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Exeter invests in its library
Exeter Public Library spends $85 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (98%) comes from local taxes. 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 Exeter’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Exeter is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns, #41 of 126 in New Hampshire. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so Exeter is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
The survey’s stand-in for Exeter’s 2024 visits carries forward a 2020 figure, so it is left out. What the library did report is strong: 2,154 programs, 132 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for its size.
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 →
72 community nonprofits are registered in Exeter
4.4 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 (7 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 Exeter’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 Exeter’s residents live; 2022.
About 25 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 Exeter last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Exeter Public Library serves 16,263 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 44 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
129K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 87K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
38,657 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Exeter Public Library, 4 Chestnut Street, Exeter.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Exeter? 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 $1.91 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Exeter cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.4M 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 5,855 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Exeter ranks 4th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Kingston | East Kingston Public Library fine-free | 8.9 | 38 | B− |
| Brentwood | Mary E. Bartlett Library fine-free | 8.3 | 39 | B |
| Newfields | Paul Memorial Library fine-free | 8.1 | 35 | B− |
| Exeter | Exeter Public Library fine-free | 7.9 | 56 | B+ |
| Kensington | Kensington Social & Public Library fine-free | 6.8 | 32 | B+ |
| Kingston | Kingston Community Library fine-free | 5.6 | 52 | A− |
| Stratham | Wiggin Memorial Library fine-free | 5.4 | 47 | 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.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Exeter Public Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate carries forward its 2020 figure, so we leave it out and never rank it.
- Cards. 36% of residents hold a card. The library began re-issuing every card in 2023 (its own site), which likely explains part of the low share.
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 Exeter
Does Exeter have a public library?
Yes. Exeter Public Library, 4 Chestnut Street, serves Exeter’s 16,263 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Exeter 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 Exeter’s library?
It lent 7.9 items per resident in 2024 (print and digital) and ran 2,154 programs that drew 59,564 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Exeter’s civic life grade?
B+ Exeter is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns on civic life, #41 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 Exeter.
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.