Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 4.0Harrisville’s library runs 106 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Harrisville Public Library serves Harrisville’s 989 residents. Last year it lent 6,498 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,833 visits.
What Harrisville’s library is like
Most of Harrisville’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 54% of loans, more per resident than at 90% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 46%. What people borrow ↓
A small-town library
Harrisville Public Library serves 989 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 23 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Programs lean toward adults
94% of the 105 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 5 were for children. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Harrisville’s civic life grade
On library visits and community nonprofits, Harrisville is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns. Harrisville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Harrisville’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Harrisville
6.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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.
54% of borrowing is digital
6,498 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 6,318 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
3,480 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 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Harrisville Public Library serves 989 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
105 programs a year
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 Harrisville last year.
Find it
Harrisville Public Library, 7 Canal Street, Harrisville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Harrisville? 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 $1.96 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Harrisville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $55K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $108K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $55K 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 528 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Harrisville ranks 5th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dublin | Dublin Public Library fine-free | 16.4 | 28 | A+ |
| Peterborough | Peterborough Town Library fine-free | 12.3 | 48 | A+ |
| Hancock | Hancock Town Library fine-free | 7.6 | 32 | A |
| Nelson | Olivia Rodham Memorial Library fine-free | 7.1 | 17 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Harrisville | Harrisville Public Library fine-free | 6.6 | 23 | A− |
| Marlborough | Frost Free Library fine-free | 4.1 | 27 | A− |
| Roxbury | 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 Harrisville
Does Harrisville have a public library?
Yes. Harrisville Public Library, 7 Canal Street, serves Harrisville’s 989 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 23 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Harrisville 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 Harrisville’s library?
It logged 3.9 visits and lent 6.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Harrisville’s civic life grade?
A− Harrisville is ahead of 82% 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 Harrisville.
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.