Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Seabrook’s library logs 5.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Seabrook Library serves Seabrook’s 8,448 residents. Last year it lent 31K books, movies and e-books and logged 44K visits.
What Seabrook’s library is like
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 76% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 30%. A year at the library ↓
Every town next door borrows more
Seabrook’s library lends 3.7 items per resident. Each of the four neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Hampton Falls at 8.7. Libraries next door ↓
Most programs are for young children
77% of the 281 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Seabrook Library holds 38,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years 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 Seabrook’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Seabrook is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns, #93 of 126 in New Hampshire. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($63K–$105K) 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 →
26 community nonprofits are registered in Seabrook
3.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.0%
5.0% of Seabrook’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 Seabrook’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.
Seabrook Library serves 8,448 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
31K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 38K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
10,284 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 Seabrook last year.
Find it
Seabrook Library, 25 Liberty Lane, Seabrook.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Seabrook? 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 Seabrook cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $543K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $519K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $543K 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 3,329 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Seabrook ranks 5th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hampton Falls | Hampton Falls Free Library fine-free | 8.7 | 32 | B− |
| Hampton | Lane Memorial Library fine-free | 8.3 | 42 | B− |
| South Hampton | South Hampton Free Public Library fine-free | 4.9 | 21 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Salisbury | Salisbury Public Library fine-free | 3.7 | 43 | B− |
| Seabrook | Seabrook Library fine-free | 3.7 | 46 | C+ |
| Seabrook Beach | None of its own | — | — | — 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 Seabrook
Does Seabrook have a public library?
Yes. Seabrook Library, 25 Liberty Lane, serves Seabrook’s 8,448 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Seabrook 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 Seabrook’s library?
It logged 5.2 visits and lent 3.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Seabrook’s civic life grade?
C+ Seabrook is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns on civic life, #93 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 Seabrook.
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.