Meredith Public Library · Photo: Ken Gallager · CC BY-SA 3.0Meredith’s library runs 104 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Meredith Public Library serves Meredith’s 6,725 residents. Last year it lent 63K books, movies and e-books and logged 55K visits.
What Meredith’s library is like
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Meredith Public Library ran 698 programs last year, about 13 a week. That’s 104 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 11,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Top 10% in New Hampshire for library use
Meredith ranks #8 of 109 New Hampshire towns with a library of their own for visits per resident. That’s 8.2 visits per resident, more than at 90% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Meredith Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1984. Today’s library there has 21,104 square feet. The building ↓
Meredith invests in its library
Meredith Public Library spends $122 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (98%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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 Meredith’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Meredith is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns, #1 of 126 in New Hampshire. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
52 community nonprofits are registered in Meredith
7.7 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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
13.1%
13.1% of Meredith’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 Meredith’s residents live; 2022.
About 8 kids’ programs 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 Meredith last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Meredith Public Library serves 6,725 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 26 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
63K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 38K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
15,955 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
A National Register landmark since 1984
Meredith Public Library, 91 Main Street, Meredith.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Meredith? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Meredith Public Library
Meredith Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Dec 13, 1984. It is significant for its architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Classical.
The Meredith Public Library is located at 91 Main Street in Meredith, New Hampshire. It is housed in a handsome brick Classical Revival structure designed by George Swan and built in 1900–01, with a major expansion in 1985. It was a gift from Benjamin Smith as a memorial to his parents, and is known as the Benjamin M. Smith Memorial Library.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.42 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Meredith cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $820K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $820K 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 4,517 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Meredith ranks 2nd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gilford | Gilford Public Library | 12.4 | 49 | A |
| Meredith | Meredith Public Library fine-free | 9.3 | 46 | A+ |
| Sanbornton | Sanbornton Public Library fine-free | 8.1 | 32 | C |
| Center Harbor | James E. Nichols Memorial Library fine-free | 7.2 | 26 | A |
| Laconia | Laconia Public Library fine-free | 6.0 | 57 | A− |
| New Hampton | Gordon-Nash Library | 3.2 | 47 | B |
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 Meredith
Does Meredith have a public library?
Yes. Meredith Public Library, 91 Main Street, serves Meredith’s 6,725 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Meredith 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 Meredith’s library?
It logged 8.2 visits and lent 9.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Meredith’s civic life grade?
A+ Meredith is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns on civic life, #1 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 Meredith.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.