Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0Greenland’s library runs 158 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Weeks Public Library serves Greenland’s 4,127 residents. Last year it lent 30K books, movies and e-books and drew 5,664 people to its programs.
What stands out about Greenland’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Greenland’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Greenland is ahead of 53% of U.S. towns, #72 of 126 in New Hampshire. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so Greenland is graded on two of the three inputs. Greenland’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
The survey’s stand-in for Greenland’s 2024 visits carries forward a 2022 figure, so it is left out. What the library did report is strong: 653 programs, 158 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for its size.
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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Greenland
4.6 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. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.9%
6.9% of Greenland’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 Greenland’s residents live; 2022.
About 6 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 Greenland last year.
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.
Weeks Public Library serves 4,127 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits. 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
30K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 24K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
9,789 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Weeks Public Library, 36 Post Road, Greenland.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Greenland? 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 $1.64 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Greenland cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $297K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $488K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $297K 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 1,624 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Greenland ranks 5th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portsmouth | Portsmouth Public Library fine-free | 16.6 | 65 | A− |
| Newington | Langdon Library fine-free | 11.5 | 39 | — under 1,000 residents |
| North Hampton | North Hampton Public Library fine-free | 9.2 | 48 | B |
| Rye | Rye Public Library fine-free | 8.1 | 54 | A |
| Greenland | Weeks Public Library fine-free | 7.2 | 47 | B− |
| Newmarket | Newmarket Public Library fine-free | 6.7 | 47 | A− |
| Stratham | Wiggin Memorial Library fine-free | 5.4 | 47 | A |
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. Weeks Public Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate carries forward its 2022 figure, so we leave it out and never rank it.
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 Greenland
Does Greenland have a public library?
Yes. Weeks Public Library, 36 Post Road, serves Greenland’s 4,127 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Weeks 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 Greenland’s library?
It lent 7.2 items per resident in 2024 (print and digital) and ran 653 programs that drew 5,664 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Greenland’s civic life grade?
B− Greenland is ahead of 53% of U.S. towns on civic life, #72 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 Greenland.
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.