Photo: Naturebunny1 · Public domainLyndeborough’s library logs 1.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
J.A. Tarbell Library serves Lyndeborough’s 1,752 residents. Last year it lent 6,302 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,769 visits.
What Lyndeborough’s library is like
Programs are almost all for children
89% of the 79 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 47 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Every town next door borrows more
Lyndeborough’s library lends 3.6 items per resident. Each of the five neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Milford at 7.8. Libraries next door ↓
A small-town library
J.A. Tarbell Library serves 1,752 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 31 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 ↓
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 Lyndeborough’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Lyndeborough is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($88K–$146K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 Lyndeborough
3.8 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.2%
9.2% of Lyndeborough’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 Lyndeborough’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
J.A. Tarbell Library serves 1,752 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
6,302 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 18K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
1,753 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Lyndeborough last year.
Find it
J.A. Tarbell Library, 136 Forest Road, Lyndeborough.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Lyndeborough? 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 $1.45 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lyndeborough cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $71K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $102K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $71K 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 875 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Lyndeborough ranks 6th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milford | William Y. Wadleigh Memorial Library fine-free | 7.8 | 48 | C+ |
| Wilton | Wilton Public & Gregg Free Library fine-free | 7.4 | 36 | B+ |
| Greenfield | Stephenson Memorial Library fine-free | 7.3 | 30 | C+ |
| Temple | Mansfield Public Library fine-free | 6.5 | 25 | B |
| Mont Vernon | Daland Memorial Library fine-free | 6.1 | 37 | A |
| Lyndeborough | J.A. Tarbell Library fine-free | 3.6 | 31 | C+ |
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 Lyndeborough
Does Lyndeborough have a public library?
Yes. J.A. Tarbell Library, 136 Forest Road, serves Lyndeborough’s 1,752 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 31 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is J.A. Tarbell 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 Lyndeborough’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 3.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Lyndeborough’s civic life grade?
C+ Lyndeborough is ahead of 42% 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 Lyndeborough.
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.