Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Pelham’s library runs 39 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Pelham Public Library serves Pelham’s 14,484 residents. Last year it lent 93K books, movies and e-books and logged 43K visits.
Pelham’s library, in brief
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Pelham Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Three of the five libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Programs draw a crowd
17,000 people came to the library’s 561 programs last year: 1.2 per resident, against a typical 0.4, more than at 91% of similar-size libraries. 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.
What’s behind Pelham’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Pelham is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns, #88 of 126 in New Hampshire. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Pelham’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($102K–$170K) 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 →
41 community nonprofits are registered in Pelham
2.8 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.1%
8.1% of Pelham’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 Pelham’s residents live; 2022.
About 6 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Pelham Public Library serves 14,484 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 32 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
93K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Pelham’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 30K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.5 times last year, on average.
19,165 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Pelham Public Library, 24 Village Green, Pelham.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Pelham? 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 $2.86 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Pelham cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $601K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $601K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 5,020 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Pelham ranks 2nd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windham | Nesmith Library fine-free | 12.1 | 63 | A− |
| Pelham | Pelham Public Library | 6.4 | 56 | C+ |
| Dracut | Moses Greeley Parker Memorial Lib. | 4.2 | 55 | C |
| Hudson | George H. and Ella M. Rodgers Memorial Library fine-free | 4.2 | 54 | C− |
| Salem | Kelley Library | 3.7 | 63 | C− |
| Methuen | Nevins Memorial Library fine-free | 3.4 | 59 | D− |
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 Pelham
Does Pelham have a public library?
Yes. Pelham Public Library, 24 Village Green, serves Pelham’s 14,484 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pelham Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Pelham’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 6.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Pelham’s civic life grade?
C+ Pelham is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns on civic life, #88 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 Pelham.
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.