Whittier Bridge · Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Ossipee’s library lends 1.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Ossipee Public Library serves Ossipee’s 4,494 residents. Last year it lent 11K books, movies and e-books and logged 8,676 visits.
The short version on Ossipee’s library
Every town next door borrows more
Ossipee’s library lends 2.4 items per resident. Each of the seven neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Moultonborough at 14. Libraries next door ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Ossipee Public Library holds 21,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
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 Ossipee’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Ossipee is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns, #104 of 126 in New Hampshire. Ossipee’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($68K–$113K) 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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Ossipee
4.2 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.0%
6.0% of Ossipee’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 Ossipee’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Ossipee Public Library serves 4,494 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: funding. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
11K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 21K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
3,527 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 Ossipee last year.
Find it
Ossipee Public Library, 74 Main Street, Center Ossipee.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Ossipee? 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 Ossipee cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $266K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $186K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $266K 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 2,318 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Ossipee ranks 8th of 8 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moultonborough | Moultonborough Public Library fine-free | 13.9 | 48 | A |
| Wolfeboro | Wolfeboro Public Library | 12.2 | 46 | A− |
| Tuftonboro | Tuftonboro Free Library fine-free | 12.0 | 39 | A |
| Tamworth | Cook Memorial Library fine-free | 11.4 | 38 | A+ |
| Freedom | Freedom Public Library fine-free | 7.8 | 21 | B+ |
| Wakefield | Gafney Library fine-free | 4.2 | 27 | B− |
| Effingham | Effingham Public Library fine-free | 3.5 | 21 | B− |
| Ossipee | Ossipee Public Library fine-free | 2.4 | 32 | 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.
- Not reported for 2024: funding. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Ossipee Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Ossipee
Does Ossipee have a public library?
Yes. Ossipee Public Library, 74 Main Street, serves Ossipee’s 4,494 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 32 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ossipee 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 Ossipee’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 2.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Ossipee’s civic life grade?
C Ossipee is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns on civic life, #104 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 Ossipee.
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.