Photo: User:Ken Gallager · CC BY-SA 4.0Walpole’s library runs 128 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Walpole Town Library serves Walpole’s 3,659 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 32K books, movies and e-books and logged 16K visits.
What Walpole’s library is like
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Walpole’s library system ran 470 programs last year, about 9 a week. That’s 128 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Walpole out-borrows every town next door
At 8.7 loans per resident, Walpole leads the seven towns here. The closest is Alstead, at 6.3. Libraries next door ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 2.9 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. It’s 33% of all loans. 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 Walpole’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Walpole is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns, #45 of 126 in New Hampshire. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Walpole’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in Walpole
4.6 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.3%
8.3% of Walpole’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 Walpole’s residents live; 2022.
About 5 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 Walpole last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Walpole Town Library serves 3,659 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
32K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 25K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
10,569 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
2 places to borrow in Walpole
Walpole Town Library, 48 Main Street, Walpole.
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 Walpole? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Walpole
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.34 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Walpole cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $229K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $535K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $229K 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 1,175 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Walpole borrows the most per resident of the 7 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walpole | Walpole Town Library fine-free | 8.7 | 36 | B+ |
| Alstead | Shedd-Porter Memorial Library fine-free | 6.3 | 26 | A− |
| Rockingham | Rockingham Free Public fine-free | 4.4 | 42 | B+ |
| Bellows Falls | Rockingham Free Public fine-free | 4.4 | 42 | A− |
| Westminster | Butterfield fine-free | 3.6 | 17 | A+ |
| Westminster | Butterfield fine-free | 3.6 | 17 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Westmoreland | Westmoreland Public Library fine-free | 3.5 | 20 | A |
| Langdon | 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 Walpole
Does Walpole have a public library?
Yes. Walpole Town Library, 48 Main Street, serves Walpole’s 3,659 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Walpole Town 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 Walpole’s library?
It logged 4.3 visits and lent 8.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Walpole’s civic life grade?
B+ Walpole is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns on civic life, #45 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 Walpole.
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.