Gilsum Stone Arch Bridge · Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0Gilsum’s library lends 1.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Gilsum Public Library serves Gilsum’s 753 residents. Last year it lent 3,188 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,804 visits.
What Gilsum’s library is like
Open only about 12 hours a week
Gilsum Public Library keeps short hours: about 12 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Keene Public Library in Keene, next door, is open about 50 hours a week. The building ↓
Most of Gilsum’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 54% of loans, more per resident than at 79% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 46%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
A small-town library
Gilsum Public Library serves 753 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 ↓
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 Gilsum’s civic life grade
Gilsum isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
54% of borrowing is digital
3,188 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 11K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
1,727 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Gilsum Public Library serves 753 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
36 programs a year
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
Gilsum Public Library, 650 Route 10, Gilsum.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Gilsum? 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 $2.10 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Gilsum cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $24K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $51K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $24K 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 183 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Gilsum ranks 3rd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keene | Keene Public Library | 9.0 | 50 | A |
| Alstead | Shedd-Porter Memorial Library fine-free | 6.3 | 26 | A− |
| Gilsum | Gilsum Public Library fine-free | 4.2 | 12 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Sullivan | Sullivan Public Library fine-free | 3.0 | 15 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Marlow | Marlow Town Library fine-free | 3.0 | 14 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Surry | Reed Free Library | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
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 Gilsum
Does Gilsum have a public library?
Yes. Gilsum Public Library, 650 Route 10, serves Gilsum’s 753 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 12 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Gilsum 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 Gilsum’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 4.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Gilsum’s civic life grade?
Gilsum isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Gilsum.
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.