Somoresworth High School · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 3.0Somersworth’s library runs 28 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Somersworth Public Library serves Somersworth’s 12,037 residents. Last year it lent 47K books, movies and e-books and logged 33K visits.
What Somersworth’s library is like
Few residents carry a card
Only 15% of the people Somersworth Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 64% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 54% 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 Somersworth’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Somersworth is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns, #98 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 ($56K–$93K) 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 →
39 community nonprofits are registered in Somersworth
3.2 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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.9%
6.9% of Somersworth’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 Somersworth’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Somersworth Public Library serves 12,037 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 23 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
47K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 32K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
9,711 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 Somersworth last year.
Find it
Somersworth Public Library, 25 Main Street, Somersworth.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Somersworth? 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 $2.08 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Somersworth cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $351K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $731K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $351K 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 1,788 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Somersworth ranks 3rd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dover | Dover Public Library | 7.6 | 62 | B+ |
| Rollinsford | Rollinsford Public Library fine-free | 4.4 | 32 | C+ |
| Somersworth | Somersworth Public Library fine-free | 3.9 | 39 | C |
| Berwick | Berwick Public Library fine-free | 3.4 | 41 | B− |
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 Somersworth
Does Somersworth have a public library?
Yes. Somersworth Public Library, 25 Main Street, serves Somersworth’s 12,037 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Somersworth 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 Somersworth’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 3.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Somersworth’s civic life grade?
C Somersworth is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns on civic life, #98 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 Somersworth.
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.