Photo: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY-SA 4.0Haverhill’s library logs 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Haverhill Library Association serves Haverhill’s 4,636 residents. Last year it lent 6,304 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,307 visits.
What Haverhill’s library is like
Haverhill Library Association is used less than most libraries its size
Haverhill Library Association records 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $8 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
55% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 45%. What your card is worth ↓
Every town next door borrows more
Haverhill’s library lends 1.4 items per resident. Each of the three neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Bath at 15. Libraries next door ↓
Most of Haverhill’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 56% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. What people borrow ↓
Open only about 16 hours a week
Haverhill Library Association keeps short hours: about 16 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The buildings ↓
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 Haverhill’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Haverhill is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns, #61 of 126 in New Hampshire. Haverhill is graded on two of the three inputs. Haverhill’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 →
28 community nonprofits are registered in Haverhill
6.1 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.3%
6.3% of Haverhill’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 Haverhill’s residents live; 2022.
56% of borrowing is digital
6,304 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 9,561 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
3,536 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Haverhill Library Association serves 4,636 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
30 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Haverhill last year.
3 places to borrow in Haverhill
Haverhill Library Association, 67 Court Street, Haverhill.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Haverhill? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Haverhill
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.47 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Haverhill cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $39K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $96K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $39K 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 325 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Haverhill ranks 4th of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bath | Bath Public Library fine-free | 15.0 | 21 | B+ |
| Piermont | Piermont Public Library fine-free | 7.9 | 16 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Warren | Joseph Patch Library fine-free | 2.6 | 15 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Haverhill | Haverhill Library Association fine-free | 1.4 | 16 | B |
| Newbury | Baldwin Memorial fine-free | — | 20 | B |
| Newbury | Tenney Memorial | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| North Haverhill | Patten-North Haverhill Library fine-free | — | 10 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Wells River | Baldwin Memorial fine-free | — | 20 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Woodsville | Woodsville Free Public Library fine-free | — | 16 | — graded as part of its town |
| Benton | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Haverhill Library Association counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Haverhill
Does Haverhill have a public library?
Yes. Haverhill Library Association, 67 Court Street, serves Haverhill’s 4,636 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 16 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Haverhill Library Association 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 Haverhill’s library?
It logged 0.5 visits and lent 1.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Haverhill’s civic life grade?
B Haverhill is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns on civic life, #61 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 Haverhill.
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.