Photo: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY-SA 4.0Goffstown’s library logs 2.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Goffstown Public Library serves Goffstown’s 18,656 residents. Last year it lent 99K books, movies and e-books and logged 43K visits.
What stands out about Goffstown’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Goffstown’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Goffstown is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns, #90 of 126 in New Hampshire. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($85K–$142K) 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 →
57 community nonprofits are registered in Goffstown
3.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.5%
8.5% of Goffstown’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 Goffstown’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1995
Goffstown Public Library, 2 High Street, Goffstown.
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 Goffstown? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Goffstown Public Library
Goffstown Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Dec 7, 1995. It is significant for its architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Classical Revival.
The Goffstown Public Library is located at 2 High Street in Goffstown, New Hampshire. The building it occupies was designed by architects Henry M. Francis & Sons and was built in 1909. It is small Classical Revival building built of brick with stone trim, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Goffstown Public Library serves 18,656 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 37 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
99K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 32K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.2 times last year, on average.
27,174 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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 Goffstown last year.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.58 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Goffstown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $957K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $957K 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 6,558 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Goffstown ranks 3rd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bedford | Bedford Public Library fine-free | 15.4 | 58 | B+ |
| New Boston | Whipple Free Library fine-free | 6.3 | 34 | C− |
| Goffstown | Goffstown Public Library fine-free | 5.3 | 51 | C+ |
| Weare | Weare Public Library | 5.2 | 45 | B− |
| Dunbarton | Dunbarton Public Library fine-free | 4.9 | 32 | C |
| Manchester | Manchester City Library | 2.6 | 50 | 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.
- 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 Goffstown
Does Goffstown have a public library?
Yes. Goffstown Public Library, 2 High Street, serves Goffstown’s 18,656 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Goffstown 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 Goffstown’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 5.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Goffstown’s civic life grade?
C+ Goffstown is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns on civic life, #90 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 Goffstown.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.