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Hampton Falls Free Library

Hampton Falls’ library runs 169 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size

Hampton Falls Free Library serves Hampton Falls’s 2,420 residents. Last year it lent 21K books, movies and e-books and logged 5,665 visits.

7 Drinkwater Road, Hampton Falls 03844 · about 32 hours a week
B−Civic lifeAhead of 54% of U.S. towns. Library visits, nonprofits and volunteering.
Borrowed a year
21K
8.7 per resident
Visits a year
5,665
2.3 per resident · Below typical (3.5)
Programs & events
409
about 8 a week · 2,979 attended
Cardholders
29%
705 cards
Open
32 hrs
a week

What stands out about Hampton Falls’s library

Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Hampton Falls’ civic life grade

On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Hampton Falls is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns. Hampton Falls’ count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.

B−
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Hampton Falls’ overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 54%
FewerMore
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $125K–$208K (1,311)Ahead of 49%

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.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. Hampton Falls is small (2,379 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

13 community nonprofits are registered in Hampton Falls

5.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture10.43 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation10.43 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans20.86 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services41.72 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education41.72 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other10.43 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

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.

Volunteering

7.6%

7.6% of Hampton Falls’ 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 Hampton Falls’ residents live; 2022.

★ What stands out · Kids & programs

About 4 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.

Schools in Hampton Falls →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–579
Ages 6–11118
Teens3
Adults174
All ages35
Little ones
1.5

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

Kids’ books
18

children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Hampton Falls last year.

2,979
people at programs
409
programs
How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 2.3 visits · typical 3.5Lower than 68%
Borrowing per resident 6.5 print items · typical 3.9Higher than 72%
Digital borrowing 2.2 e-items · typical 1Higher than 76%
Kids’ borrowing 3.4 kids’ items · typical 1.4Higher than 79%
Program attendance 1.2 attendees · typical 0.7Higher than 70%
Programs offered 169 per 1,000 residents · typical 60Higher than 85%
Cardholders 29% of residents · typical 54%Lower than 78%
Spending $87 per resident · typical $54Higher than 77%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Hampton Falls Free Library serves 2,420 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out

Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.

5,665
visits
2.3 per resident
21K
loans, print + digital
8.7 per resident
409
programs & events
2,979 attended
705
library cards
29% of people served
Every open hour13items borrowed
Every week57people at a program
Every week109visits
3 staff (full-time equivalent)1 public computers20K books & media on the shelves
What people borrow

More than half the print loans are kids’ books

21K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

21Kloans
Books & media (adults) 35%Kids’ books & media 39%E-books, audio & streaming 25%
How hard the shelves work
0.8×

Each of the 20K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.

From your couch

5,310 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

The building

Find it

Hampton Falls Free Library, 7 Drinkwater Road, Hampton Falls.

32
hours open a week
5,600
square feet
20K
books & media
With a card

No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.

New in Hampton Falls? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

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 Hampton Falls cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
1
E-books & audio$15 each
1
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$528
a year at retail prices · $44 a month

Who pays for it
$87 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $212K.

Local taxes 96%Gifts & other 4%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $335K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $212K 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 705 cardholders ÷ 12.

Next door

Libraries next door

Hampton Falls borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.

12+ loans per resident8–124–8Under 4No library / shared system
TownLibraryLoans per residentHoursCivic life
Hampton FallsHampton Falls Free Library fine-free8.732B−
HamptonLane Memorial Library fine-free8.342B−
KensingtonKensington Social & Public Library fine-free6.832B+
SeabrookSeabrook Library fine-free3.746C+
Seabrook BeachNone of its own——— graded as part of its town

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).

How to read these numbers

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 Hampton Falls

Does Hampton Falls have a public library?

Yes. Hampton Falls Free Library, 7 Drinkwater Road, serves Hampton Falls’ 2,420 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 32 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Hampton Falls 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 Hampton Falls’ library?

It logged 2.3 visits and lent 8.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.

What is Hampton Falls’ civic life grade?

B− Hampton Falls is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Hampton Falls.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.