Photo: Wesman83 · CC BY-SA 3.0Plaistow’s library runs 92 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Plaistow Public Library serves Plaistow’s 7,888 residents. Last year it lent 51K books, movies and e-books and logged 32K visits.
What stands out about Plaistow’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Plaistow’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Plaistow is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns, #38 of 126 in New Hampshire. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
32 community nonprofits are registered in Plaistow
4.1 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.2%
10.2% of Plaistow’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 Plaistow’s residents live; 2022.
About 5 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 Plaistow last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Plaistow Public Library serves 7,888 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 21 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
51K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 53K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
12,561 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Plaistow Public Library, 85 Main Street, Plaistow.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Plaistow? 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 $1.21 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Plaistow cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $692K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $839K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $692K 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 1,883 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Plaistow ranks 3rd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atkinson | Kimball Library fine-free | 7.7 | 52 | B− |
| Hampstead | Hampstead Public Library fine-free | 7.4 | 55 | B+ |
| Plaistow | Plaistow Public Library fine-free | 6.4 | 46 | B+ |
| Kingston | Kingston Community Library fine-free | 5.6 | 52 | A− |
| Newton | Gale Library fine-free | 3.4 | 28 | C |
| Haverhill | Haverhill Public Library fine-free | 3.0 | 61 | 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.
- 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 Plaistow
Does Plaistow have a public library?
Yes. Plaistow Public Library, 85 Main Street, serves Plaistow’s 7,888 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Plaistow 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 Plaistow’s library?
It logged 4.1 visits and lent 6.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Plaistow’s civic life grade?
B+ Plaistow is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns on civic life, #38 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 Plaistow.
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.