Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domainTuftonboro’s library logs 8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Tuftonboro Free Library serves Tuftonboro’s 2,508 residents. Last year it lent 30K books, movies and e-books and logged 20K visits.
What Tuftonboro’s library is like
Tuftonboro uses its library more than almost any town its size
Tuftonboro Free Library logs 8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 8.5 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 86% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.6 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. It’s 30% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Tuftonboro invests in its library
Tuftonboro Free Library spends $121 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (87%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
71% of the 107 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 48 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Tuftonboro Free Library holds 37,000 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 Tuftonboro’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Tuftonboro is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns, #11 of 126 in New Hampshire. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank 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 →
15 community nonprofits are registered in Tuftonboro
5.8 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 (5 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.
9.5%
9.5% of Tuftonboro’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 Tuftonboro’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
30K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 37K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
8,959 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 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Tuftonboro Free Library serves 2,508 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 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 Tuftonboro last year.
Find it
Tuftonboro Free Library, 221 Middle Road, Center Tuftonboro.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Tuftonboro? 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 $1.57 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Tuftonboro cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $302K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $476K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $302K 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 1,212 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Tuftonboro ranks 3rd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moultonborough | Moultonborough Public Library fine-free | 13.9 | 48 | A |
| Wolfeboro | Wolfeboro Public Library | 12.2 | 46 | A− |
| Tuftonboro | Tuftonboro Free Library fine-free | 12.0 | 39 | A |
| Alton | Gilman Library fine-free | 4.5 | 21 | C+ |
| Ossipee | Ossipee Public Library fine-free | 2.4 | 32 | C |
| Melvin Village | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Tuftonboro Free Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Tuftonboro
Does Tuftonboro have a public library?
Yes. Tuftonboro Free Library, 221 Middle Road, serves Tuftonboro’s 2,508 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Tuftonboro Free 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 Tuftonboro’s library?
It logged 8.0 visits and lent 12.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Tuftonboro’s civic life grade?
A Tuftonboro is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns on civic life, #11 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 Tuftonboro.
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.