Photo: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY-SA 4.0Newbury’s library logs 7.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Newbury Public Library serves Newbury’s 2,220 residents. Last year it lent 26K books, movies and e-books and logged 17K visits.
The short version on Newbury’s library
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.9 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. It’s 33% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Nearly everyone in Newbury has a card
1,953 cards for 2,220 people, or 88%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Newbury invests in its library
Newbury Public Library spends $127 per resident a year, about twice the typical $54 for a library its size. Almost all of it (90%) 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Newbury’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Newbury is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Newbury’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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Newbury
8.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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.
8.5%
8.5% of Newbury’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 Newbury’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
26K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 17K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
8,627 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Newbury Public Library serves 2,220 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
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 Newbury last year.
Find it
Newbury Public Library, 933 Route 103, Newbury.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Newbury? 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 $1.51 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Newbury cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $283K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $428K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $283K 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 1,953 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Newbury ranks 3rd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New London | Tracy Memorial Library fine-free | 15.3 | 41 | A− |
| Sunapee | Abbott Library fine-free | 13.1 | 51 | A− |
| Newbury | Newbury Public Library fine-free | 11.9 | 41 | A |
| Bradford | Brown Memorial Library fine-free | 7.1 | 27 | A |
| Sutton | Sutton Free Library fine-free | 6.9 | 21 | B |
| Goshen | Olive G. Pettis Library | — | 27 | — graded with its twin city |
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 Newbury
Does Newbury have a public library?
Yes. Newbury Public Library, 933 Route 103, serves Newbury’s 2,220 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Newbury 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 Newbury’s library?
It logged 7.8 visits and lent 11.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Newbury’s civic life grade?
A Newbury is ahead of 91% 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 Newbury.
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.