Photo: BakedintheHole · CC BY 4.0Hampstead’s library logs 5.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Hampstead Public Library serves Hampstead’s 9,117 residents. Last year it lent 68K books, movies and e-books and logged 49K visits.
The short version on Hampstead’s library
Programs lean toward adults
60% of the 421 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 130 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Hampstead invests in its library
Hampstead Public Library spends $83 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (96%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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 Hampstead’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Hampstead is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns, #43 of 126 in New Hampshire. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Hampstead’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
28 community nonprofits are registered in Hampstead
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.8%
9.8% of Hampstead’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 Hampstead’s residents live; 2022.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.43 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hampstead cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $760K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $760K 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 3,299 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Hampstead Public Library serves 9,117 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 24 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
68K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 32K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 time last year, on average.
19,632 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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 Hampstead last year.
Find it
Hampstead Public Library, 9 Mary E. Clark Drive, Hampstead.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Hampstead? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Libraries next door
Hampstead ranks 3rd of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Danville | Colby Memorial Library | 9.1 | 35 | C |
| Atkinson | Kimball Library fine-free | 7.7 | 52 | B− |
| Hampstead | Hampstead Public Library fine-free | 7.4 | 55 | B+ |
| Plaistow | Plaistow Public Library fine-free | 6.4 | 46 | B+ |
| Kingston | Kingston Community Library fine-free | 5.6 | 52 | A− |
| Derry | Derry Public Library fine-free | 5.3 | 53 | C+ |
| Sandown | Sandown Public Library fine-free | 4.6 | 39 | D |
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 Hampstead
Does Hampstead have a public library?
Yes. Hampstead Public Library, 9 Mary E. Clark Drive, serves Hampstead’s 9,117 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hampstead 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 Hampstead’s library?
It logged 5.4 visits and lent 7.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Hampstead’s civic life grade?
B+ Hampstead is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns on civic life, #43 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 Hampstead.
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.