Photo: Andrew Sawyer · CC BY 2.5Stoddard’s library runs 85 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Davis Public Library serves Stoddard’s 1,392 residents. Last year it lent 4,696 books, movies and e-books and logged 4,348 visits.
Stoddard’s library, in brief
Most of Stoddard’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 54% of loans, more per resident than at 70% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 46%. What people borrow ↓
A small-town library
Davis Public Library serves 1,392 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 27 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Stoddard’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Stoddard is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns. Stoddard is graded on two of the three inputs. Both 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 →
4 community nonprofits are registered in Stoddard
4.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.7%
10.7% of Stoddard’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 Stoddard’s residents live; 2022.
54% of borrowing is digital
4,696 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 6,539 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
2,522 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Davis Public Library serves 1,392 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Stoddard last year.
Find it
Davis Public Library, 1391 Route 123 North, Stoddard.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Stoddard? 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 $1.45 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Stoddard cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $53K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $77K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $53K 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 476 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Stoddard ranks 4th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antrim | James A. Tuttle Library fine-free | 11.0 | 32 | B+ |
| Nelson | Olivia Rodham Memorial Library fine-free | 7.1 | 17 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Washington | Shedd Free Library fine-free | 3.9 | 19 | C+ |
| Stoddard | Davis Public Library fine-free | 3.4 | 27 | A− |
| Sullivan | Sullivan Public Library fine-free | 3.0 | 15 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Windsor | 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 Stoddard
Does Stoddard have a public library?
Yes. Davis Public Library, 1391 Route 123 North, serves Stoddard’s 1,392 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 27 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Davis 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 Stoddard’s library?
It logged 3.1 visits and lent 3.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Stoddard’s civic life grade?
A− Stoddard is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Stoddard.
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.