Photo: Unknown photographer · Public domainMarlborough’s library runs 98 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Frost Free Library serves Marlborough’s 2,106 residents. Last year it lent 8,592 books, movies and e-books and logged 4,403 visits.
What stands out about Marlborough’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Marlborough’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Marlborough is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in Marlborough
6.3 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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
13.1%
13.1% of Marlborough’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 Marlborough’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Frost Free Library serves 2,106 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
8,592 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 14K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
3,027 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 Marlborough last year.
Find it
Frost Free Library, 28 Jaffrey Road, Marlborough.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Marlborough? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Marlborough cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $150K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $144K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $150K 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 990 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Marlborough ranks 6th of 7 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+ |
| Jaffrey | Jaffrey Public Library fine-free | 11.5 | 44 | A |
| Keene | Keene Public Library | 9.0 | 50 | A |
| Harrisville | Harrisville Public Library fine-free | 6.6 | 23 | A− |
| Troy | Gay-Kimball Library fine-free | 6.4 | 23 | B− |
| Marlborough | Frost Free Library fine-free | 4.1 | 27 | A− |
| Swanzey | Mt. Caesar Union Library fine-free | 1.6 | 30 | C |
| 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 Marlborough
Does Marlborough have a public library?
Yes. Frost Free Library, 28 Jaffrey Road, serves Marlborough’s 2,106 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 27 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Frost 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 Marlborough’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 4.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Marlborough’s civic life grade?
A− Marlborough is ahead of 76% 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 Marlborough.
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.