Photo: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY 4.0Gorham’s library logs 5 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Gorham Public Library serves Gorham’s 2,699 residents. Last year it lent 16K books, movies and e-books and logged 14K visits.
Gorham’s library, in brief
Most programs are for young children
77% of the 150 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.2 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Gorham Public Library holds 34,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
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 Gorham’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Gorham is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns, #32 of 126 in New Hampshire. Gorham’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 Gorham
7.8 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.
7.1%
7.1% of Gorham’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 Gorham’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Gorham Public Library serves 2,699 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
16K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Gorham’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 34K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
4,428 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.
Find it
Gorham Public Library, 35 Railroad Street, Gorham.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Gorham? 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 $1.76 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Gorham cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $156K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $274K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $156K 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 816 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Gorham ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
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 Gorham
Does Gorham have a public library?
Yes. Gorham Public Library, 35 Railroad Street, serves Gorham’s 2,699 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Gorham 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 Gorham’s library?
It logged 5.0 visits and lent 5.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Gorham’s civic life grade?
A− Gorham is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns on civic life, #32 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 Gorham.
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.