Photo: Fletcher6 · CC BY-SA 3.0Wakefield’s library logs 1.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Gafney Library serves Wakefield’s 6,062 residents. Last year it lent 25K books, movies and e-books and logged 9,289 visits.
The short version on Wakefield’s library
Wakefield out-borrows every town next door
At 4.2 loans per resident, Wakefield leads the five towns here. The closest is Effingham, at 3.5. Libraries next door ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
26% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 74%. What your card is worth ↓
40% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 40% of loans, more per resident than at 70% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 60%, much of it kids’ books. 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 Wakefield’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Wakefield is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns, #73 of 126 in New Hampshire. Wakefield is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Wakefield’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in Wakefield
2.7 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.4%
9.4% of Wakefield’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 Wakefield’s residents live; 2022.
40% of borrowing is digital
25K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
10,159 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 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Gafney Library serves 6,062 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 2 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 Wakefield last year.
2 places to borrow in Wakefield
Gafney Library, 14 High Street, Sanbornville.
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 Wakefield? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Wakefield
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.56 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wakefield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $271K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $421K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $271K 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 1,858 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Wakefield borrows the most per resident of the 5 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wakefield | Gafney Library fine-free | 4.2 | 27 | B− |
| Effingham | Effingham Public Library fine-free | 3.5 | 21 | B− |
| Ossipee | Ossipee Public Library fine-free | 2.4 | 32 | C |
| Milton | Milton Free Public Library fine-free | 1.4 | 25 | C− |
| Acton | Acton Public Library fine-free | 1.0 | 21 | C+ |
| Brookfield | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Newfield | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Union | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Middleton | None of its own | — | — | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Gafney 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 Wakefield
Does Wakefield have a public library?
Yes. Gafney Library, 14 High Street, serves Wakefield’s 6,062 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 27 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Gafney 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 Wakefield’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 4.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Wakefield’s civic life grade?
B− Wakefield is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns on civic life, #73 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 Wakefield.
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.