Newfields’ library logs 2.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Paul Memorial Library serves Newfields’s 1,776 residents. Last year it lent 14K books, movies and e-books and logged 4,612 visits.
The short version on Newfields’s library
44% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 44% of loans, more per resident than at 90% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 56%. What people borrow ↓
A small-town library
Paul Memorial Library serves 1,776 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 35 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 ↓
Newfields out-borrows every town next door
At 8.1 loans per resident, Newfields leads the four towns here. The closest is Exeter, at 7.9. Libraries next door ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
29% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 71%. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
61% of the 119 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 29 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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 Newfields’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Newfields is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns. Newfields’ 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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Newfields
7.9 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.5%
5.5% of Newfields’ 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 Newfields’ residents live; 2022.
44% of borrowing is digital
14K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 9,892 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
6,275 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 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Paul Memorial Library serves 1,776 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
119 programs a year
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.
Find it
Paul Memorial Library, 76 Main Street, Newfields.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Newfields? 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 $2.38 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Newfields cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $104K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $248K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $104K 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 441 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Newfields borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
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 Newfields
Does Newfields have a public library?
Yes. Paul Memorial Library, 76 Main Street, serves Newfields’ 1,776 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Paul Memorial 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 Newfields’ library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 8.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Newfields’ civic life grade?
B− Newfields is ahead of 47% 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 Newfields.
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.