Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Stratham’s library runs 62 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Wiggin Memorial Library serves Stratham’s 7,836 residents. Last year it lent 42K books, movies and e-books and drew 5,653 people to its programs.
Stratham’s library, in brief
Every town next door borrows more
Stratham’s library lends 5.4 items per resident. Each of the five neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by North Hampton at 9.2. Libraries next door ↓
46% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 46% of loans, more per resident than at 84% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 54%. 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 Stratham’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Stratham is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns, #19 of 126 in New Hampshire. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so Stratham 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.
The survey’s stand-in for Stratham’s 2024 visits is its own estimate, so it is left out. What the library did report is strong: 488 programs, 62 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for its size.
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 →
37 community nonprofits are registered in Stratham
4.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.6%
10.6% of Stratham’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 Stratham’s residents live; 2022.
46% of borrowing is digital
42K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Stratham’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 37K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
19,362 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 4 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Wiggin Memorial Library serves 7,836 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
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.
Find it
Wiggin Memorial Library, 10 Bunker Hill Ave., Stratham.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Stratham? 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 Stratham cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $506K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $731K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $506K 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 2,952 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Stratham ranks 6th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Hampton | North Hampton Public Library fine-free | 9.2 | 48 | B |
| Newfields | Paul Memorial Library fine-free | 8.1 | 35 | B− |
| Exeter | Exeter Public Library fine-free | 7.9 | 56 | B+ |
| Greenland | Weeks Public Library fine-free | 7.2 | 47 | B− |
| Newmarket | Newmarket Public Library fine-free | 6.7 | 47 | A− |
| Stratham | Wiggin Memorial Library fine-free | 5.4 | 47 | A |
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.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Wiggin Memorial Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate is its own, so we leave it out and never rank it.
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 Stratham
Does Stratham have a public library?
Yes. Wiggin Memorial Library, 10 Bunker Hill Ave., serves Stratham’s 7,836 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Wiggin Memorial 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 Stratham’s library?
It lent 5.4 items per resident in 2024 (print and digital) and ran 488 programs that drew 5,653 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Stratham’s civic life grade?
A Stratham is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns on civic life, #19 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 Stratham.
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.