Photo: Ken Gallager at Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0Grantham’s library runs 97 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Dunbar Free Library serves Grantham’s 3,428 residents. Last year it lent 42K books, movies and e-books and logged 14K visits.
The short version on Grantham’s library
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 55% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 86% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 21 items per child in Grantham last year. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4.8 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries. It’s 39% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Dunbar Free Library ran 334 programs last year, about 6 a week. That’s 97 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
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 Grantham’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Grantham is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns, #57 of 126 in New Hampshire. Grantham’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 →
18 community nonprofits are registered in Grantham
5.2 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.8%
6.8% of Grantham’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 Grantham’s residents live; 2022.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
42K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 36K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
16,529 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Dunbar Free Library serves 3,428 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 23 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
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 Grantham last year.
Find it
Dunbar Free Library, 401 Route 10 South, Grantham.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Grantham? 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 $2.77 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Grantham cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $236K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $655K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $236K 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 2,310 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Grantham ranks 2nd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plainfield | Philip Read Memorial Library | 14.3 | 22 | B |
| Grantham | Dunbar Free Library fine-free | 12.3 | 35 | B |
| Enfield | Enfield Public Library fine-free | 5.9 | 40 | B− |
| Springfield | Libbie A. Cass Memorial Library fine-free | 5.4 | 26 | C |
| Croydon | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 Grantham
Does Grantham have a public library?
Yes. Dunbar Free Library, 401 Route 10 South, serves Grantham’s 3,428 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dunbar Free 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 Grantham’s library?
It logged 4.1 visits and lent 12.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Grantham’s civic life grade?
B Grantham is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns on civic life, #57 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 Grantham.
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.