Suncook Village Commercial-Civic Historic District · Photo: Ken Gallager at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Pembroke’s library runs 23 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Pembroke Town Library serves Pembroke’s 7,358 residents. Last year it lent 30K books, movies and e-books and logged 17K visits.
What Pembroke’s library is like
Programs are almost all for children
84% of the 172 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.8 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 65% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 57% of similar-size libraries. 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 Pembroke’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Pembroke is ahead of 33% of U.S. towns, #97 of 126 in New Hampshire. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($67K–$112K) 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 →
25 community nonprofits are registered in Pembroke
3.3 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.3%
7.3% of Pembroke’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 Pembroke’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Pembroke Town Library serves 7,358 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
30K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 18K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
8,313 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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 Pembroke last year.
Find it
Pembroke Town Library, 313 Pembroke Street, Pembroke.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Pembroke? 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 $1.39 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Pembroke cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $327K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $454K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $327K 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 2,071 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Pembroke ranks 5th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bow | Baker Free Library fine-free | 8.8 | 54 | B+ |
| Chichester | Chichester Town Library fine-free | 6.7 | 23 | C− |
| Epsom | Epsom Public Library fine-free | 6.1 | 39 | C+ |
| Concord | Concord Public Library | 5.7 | 56 | A− |
| Pembroke | Pembroke Town Library fine-free | 4.0 | 40 | C |
| Allenstown | Allenstown Public Library fine-free | 1.5 | 22 | D |
| Suncook | Allenstown Public Library fine-free | 1.5 | 22 | — graded as part of its town |
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 Pembroke
Does Pembroke have a public library?
Yes. Pembroke Town Library, 313 Pembroke Street, serves Pembroke’s 7,358 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pembroke Town 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 Pembroke’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 4.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Pembroke’s civic life grade?
C Pembroke is ahead of 33% of U.S. towns on civic life, #97 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 Pembroke.
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.