Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Farmington’s library lends 3.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Goodwin Library serves Farmington’s 6,839 residents. Last year it lent 29K books, movies and e-books and drew 2,125 people to its programs.
What stands out about Farmington’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Farmington’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Farmington is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns, #111 of 126 in New Hampshire. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so Farmington is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
The survey’s stand-in for Farmington’s 2024 visits carries forward a 2022 figure, so it is left out.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($50K–$84K) 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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Farmington
2.4 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.3%
7.3% of Farmington’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 Farmington’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Goodwin Library serves 6,839 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits and funding. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
29K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 22K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
5,975 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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 Farmington last year.
Find it
Goodwin Library, 422 Main St., Farmington.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Farmington? 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 $1.12 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Farmington cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $390K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $436K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $390K 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 1,374 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Farmington ranks 6th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Durham | New Durham Public Library fine-free | 7.0 | 34 | B+ |
| Strafford | Hill Library fine-free | 6.1 | 51 | B− |
| Barnstead | Oscar Foss Memorial Library fine-free | 4.6 | 32 | C+ |
| Alton | Gilman Library fine-free | 4.5 | 21 | C+ |
| Rochester | Rochester Public Library | 4.3 | 54 | C+ |
| Farmington | Goodwin Library fine-free | 4.2 | 30 | C− |
| Milton | Milton Free Public Library fine-free | 1.4 | 25 | C− |
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. Goodwin Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate carries forward its 2022 figure, so we leave it out and never rank it.
- Not reported for 2024: funding. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
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 Farmington
Does Farmington have a public library?
Yes. Goodwin Library, 422 Main St., serves Farmington’s 6,839 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Goodwin 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 Farmington’s library?
It lent 4.2 items per resident in 2024 (print and digital) and ran 214 programs that drew 2,125 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Farmington’s civic life grade?
C− Farmington is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns on civic life, #111 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 Farmington.
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.