Photo: SayCheeeeeese · Public domainPeterborough’s library logs 9.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Peterborough Town Library serves Peterborough’s 6,519 residents. Last year it lent 80K books, movies and e-books and logged 62K visits.
What Peterborough’s library is like
Peterborough ranks 3rd in New Hampshire for library use
Out of 109 New Hampshire towns with a library of their own, Peterborough comes 3rd for visits per resident. It’s also #6 for kids’ borrowing. How it compares ↓
Peterborough uses its library more than almost any town its size
Peterborough Town Library logs 9.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 9 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 88% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 56% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 32 items per child in Peterborough last year. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.3 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries. It’s 27% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Peterborough invests in its library
Peterborough Town Library spends $113 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (93%) 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.
What’s behind Peterborough’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Peterborough is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns, #3 of 126 in New Hampshire. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Peterborough’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 →
63 community nonprofits are registered in Peterborough
9.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.2%
9.2% of Peterborough’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 Peterborough’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Peterborough Town Library serves 6,519 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 32 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
80K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 34K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.7 times last year, on average.
21,546 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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 Peterborough last year.
Find it
Peterborough Town Library, 2 Concord Street, Peterborough.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Peterborough? 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 $1.65 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Peterborough cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $737K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $737K 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 3,468 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Peterborough ranks 2nd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dublin | Dublin Public Library fine-free | 16.4 | 28 | A+ |
| Peterborough | Peterborough Town Library fine-free | 12.3 | 48 | A+ |
| Hancock | Hancock Town Library fine-free | 7.6 | 32 | A |
| Greenfield | Stephenson Memorial Library fine-free | 7.3 | 30 | C+ |
| Harrisville | Harrisville Public Library fine-free | 6.6 | 23 | A− |
| Temple | Mansfield Public Library fine-free | 6.5 | 25 | B |
| Sharon | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 Peterborough
Does Peterborough have a public library?
Yes. Peterborough Town Library, 2 Concord Street, serves Peterborough’s 6,519 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Peterborough 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 Peterborough’s library?
It logged 9.5 visits and lent 12.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Peterborough’s civic life grade?
A+ Peterborough is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns on civic life, #3 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 Peterborough.
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.