Photo: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY-SA 4.0Sunapee’s library logs 8.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Abbott Library serves Sunapee’s 3,382 residents. Last year it lent 44K books, movies and e-books and logged 28K visits.
The short version on Sunapee’s library
Sunapee’s kids borrow the most in New Hampshire
Out of 108 New Hampshire towns with a library of their own, Sunapee comes first for children’s items borrowed per child. It’s also #5 for library use and #10 for borrowing. How it compares ↓
Sunapee uses its library more than almost any town its size
Abbott Library logs 8.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 9.5 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 90% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Sunapee invests in its library
Abbott Library spends $161 per resident a year, about four times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (91%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.5 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. It’s 27% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 47% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 45 items per child in Sunapee last year. Kids & programs ↓
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 Sunapee’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Sunapee is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns, #28 of 126 in New Hampshire. Sunapee’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
29 community nonprofits are registered in Sunapee
8.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.2%
6.2% of Sunapee’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 Sunapee’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Abbott Library serves 3,382 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.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
44K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 30K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
11,882 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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 Sunapee last year.
Find it
Abbott Library, 11 Soonipi Circle, Sunapee.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Sunapee? 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 $1.31 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sunapee cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $543K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $710K 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 2,690 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Sunapee ranks 2nd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New London | Tracy Memorial Library fine-free | 15.3 | 41 | A− |
| Sunapee | Abbott Library fine-free | 13.1 | 51 | A− |
| Newbury | Newbury Public Library fine-free | 11.9 | 41 | A |
| Springfield | Libbie A. Cass Memorial Library fine-free | 5.4 | 26 | C |
| Goshen | Olive G. Pettis Library | — | 27 | — graded with its twin city |
| Croydon | 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 Sunapee
Does Sunapee have a public library?
Yes. Abbott Library, 11 Soonipi Circle, serves Sunapee’s 3,382 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Abbott 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 Sunapee’s library?
It logged 8.4 visits and lent 13.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Sunapee’s civic life grade?
A− Sunapee is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns on civic life, #28 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 Sunapee.
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.